Discipline at school in Kentucky: your side of the story, the board hearing, and the bullying code

Under KRS 158.150, a Kentucky public school cannot suspend you until three things happen. You are told, out loud or in writing, what you are accused of. If you deny it, someone explains the evidence. Then you get to give your own version of the facts. The only exception is an emergency, when an immediate suspension is needed to protect people or property. Even then, those three steps must happen as soon as practicable and no later than three school days after the suspension.

This matches the national floor. In Goss v. Lopez (1975), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a public school must give a student notice and a chance to tell their side before a suspension of 10 days or less. Kentucky adds one more step: the principal or other official who suspends you must report it in writing right away to the superintendent and to your parent or guardian.

For very young students the bar is higher. The same statute says suspending a primary school student should be considered only in exceptional cases involving safety.

A principal can suspend. Only the local board of education can expel, and it cannot do so until your parent or guardian has had the chance for a hearing before the board. Kentucky makes the board's decision final at the district level.

Some expulsions are required. Each board must expel for at least 12 months a student it finds brought a weapon to school (bus stops count) or made threats that endanger students or staff, proven by clear and convincing evidence (a high standard of proof). Even during an expulsion, the district generally must provide schooling in an alternative program, which can be virtual, unless the board finds on the record that the student is too dangerous for any such setting.

If you have an IEP or other special education plan, the rules change. A suspension of more than 10 days in a row, or a pattern adding up to more than 10, counts as a change of placement, and the admissions and release committee (the team that manages the plan) must meet.

KRS 158.148 requires every district to adopt a code of acceptable behavior and discipline that prohibits bullying, defined as unwanted verbal, physical, or social behavior among students that involves a real or perceived power imbalance and is repeated or could be repeated. The code must say how the school documents and investigates a report, tell the parents of the students involved, and protect the person who reported from retaliation. A copy must be posted at each school and given to parents.

On attendance, KRS 159.010 starts at age 6 and lets districts extend required attendance to 18. Once 55 percent of districts adopted age 18, the law required all districts to follow. Your district office can confirm the age that applies to you.