Local Superintendents Advisory Council discusses educator certification, recommends approval of other items during meeting

(FRANKFORT, KY) — Members of the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Local Superintendents Advisory Council (LSAC) discussed potential ways to change how teacher certification works in the Commonwealth during the LSAC meeting on Jan. 27.

Todd Davis, division director in KDE’s Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, provided an overview of the Education Certification Structure Workgroup, which began (work in December 2024 and is made up of principals, teachers, school counselors, human resource officers, leaders with Kentucky’s universities, state lawmakers and other educator stakeholder groups. They’re looking into potential areas of reform, including the grade bands and content areas associated with educator certification.

The group narrowed down a list of recommendations in June, taking into consideration how other states operate and discussions with district leaders in Kentucky. Now workgroup members are looking for input from LSAC members and others before presenting them to the Education Professional Standards Board at a later date.

The workgroup’s recommendations are:

• Keep preschool and kindergarten certification the same for early childhood educators, but consider an optional endorsement for grades 1-3;
• Expand elementary certification to kindergarten through 6th grade instead of the current K-5 arrangement;
• Expand middle grades certification to grades 4-9; and
• Expand secondary level certification to grades 7-12.

Davis said the elementary school expansion would give districts flexibility if their elementary schools include 6th-grade students.

With the middle school expansion, Davis said the recommendation was made to help middle school teachers who specialize in a field to teach in elementary schools, allowing for content-specific classes in some of the higher grades at the elementary level. He said teachers would still have to be certified in the specific content area of their choice.

Davis also said the workgroup received input that some districts are offering intro-level high school classes such as algebra and geometry at the middle school level, justifying the certification recommendation at the secondary level.

The workgroup also looked into many of the nuances of educator certification, including requirements for science and mathematics education.

Superintendents discussed the difficulty of hiring and retaining teachers with proper certifications, especially around specialized sciences at the high school level.

Sharla Six, superintendent of Anchorage Independent, said she wanted to see more information from universities about whether they have enough education majors with experience in some of these high-need areas.

“While we open up all the options to bring teachers in, I think it sounds maybe like we need to open up certifications because the cultural impacts of bringing someone in without an education degree has a ripple effect in the school,” Six said. “… I think we have to open up these education majors to be able to do more content areas, more grade levels, based on the numbers and current education programs.”

Henry Webb, superintendent of Kenton County, said he wants to see as much flexibility as possible with certification, favoring a model like Illinois, which allows science teachers to teach across subjects.

“If people want to get the specialized degree in science, they can still teach any of the content areas,” Webb said. “There’s nothing more frustrating than having to put a full-time sub or an emergency-certified (educator) or an alternate-certified teacher in a classroom when you’ve got a high-quality teacher right there teaching science that could teach that (other) section – and successfully – but you can’t do it because of certification.”

Designation of Agent to Manage Athletics

LSAC members recommended approval of an amendment to 702 KAR 7:065, the designation of an agent to manage middle and high school interscholastic athletics.

The Kentucky Board of Education has a longstanding agreement with the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) to manage interscholastic athletics and the amendment LSAC members recommended approval of comes after KHSAA’s annual meeting of member schools.

KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett explained how some of the changes deal with transfer rules and the difficulties district athletic directors have had with students changing schools.

One of the changes would allow a student-athlete who plays 20% or less of the team’s varsity games one year to transfer to another school without having to sit out for a season. Another change brings transfer rules for foreign-born student-athletes into alignment with the rules for U.S.-born students.

Other revisions that were recently approved by KHSAA member schools include minor changes to regulations around sports medicine and officiating.

Financial Literacy Requirements

LSAC members recommended approval of an amendment to 704 KAR 3:305, minimum requirements for high school graduation, following the passage of House Bill 342 (2025), which requires a one-credit elective in financial literacy starting with students entering the 9th grade in the 2026-2027 school year.

The amendments LSAC members recommended approval of will be considered by the Kentucky Board of Education during its meeting on Feb. 4-5.