Committee approves bill to trim duplicative school reporting, update budget publication rules

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Senate Standing Committee on Education on Monday adopted a committee substitute and then unanimously passed Senate Bill 68, an education bill that removes several state reporting requirements and updates how school budgets are published.

Supporters said the bill removes reports that KDE said are duplicative of federal monitoring or no longer useful, and replaces an outdated 1958 reference about publishing school budgets in a manner consistent with modern practice.

Senator Steve Rawlings, the sponsor, framed the bill as a step to reduce burdens on districts and to emphasize career and technical education alongside academics. "This bill is a key step toward reversing that trend," Rawlings said in opening remarks about refocusing state policy on core learning and vocational training.

The committee substitute makes targeted changes in several sections: Section 4 removes the departmentreport requirement on local wellness policies while leaving intact the statutory requirement that districts adopt such policies; Section 5 removes an interim report on school breakfast programs; Section 6 updates language about publication of school budgets (removing an archaic filing requirement tied to a county taxing authority); and Section 7 repeals KRS 157.061, a redundant annual-audit provision that KDE said is covered under other audit statutes.

Matt Ross, associate commissioner in KDE's Office of Finance and Operations, described the deletions as reducing unnecessary paperwork. "We're not really doing anything to the local wellness policy except striking the report that the Department makes," Ross said. He told the committee that local wellness policies will remain required, will continue to be reviewed under federal school nutrition monitoring where applicable, and that KDE has struggled to collect consistent, meaningful responses to the statutory reporting requirement.

Committee members asked about physical-activity reporting that also is struck from the statute. Senator Thomas asked why the bill removes reporting on the amount of physical activity in schools, noting the legislatureoften values that information. Ross replied that districts must adopt policies but KDE lacks authority to require standardized reporting, and the data KDE receives are "apples and oranges" and therefore of limited use in statewide reports.

Senator Neal, explaining his aye vote, reiterated the value members place on student physical activity while supporting the measure's intent to cut duplicative reporting: "Physical activity is important," he said, and expressed confidence KDE will continue to monitor relevant policies through federal reviews.

The committee first adopted the committee substitute on a motion by Senator Givens, seconded by Senator Tichenor. The committee then voted to pass SB 68, as amended, by a unanimous roll call.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to adopt committee substitute: moved by Senator Givens; seconded by Senator Tichenor. Outcome: adopted (voice/committee action recorded). - Final passage in committee of SB 68 (as amended by committee substitute): outcome: approved unanimously (committee recorded a unanimous aye vote).

What the bill changes (clarifying details)

- Local wellness policies: districts remain required to adopt policies; the KDE report on those policies is removed as duplicative and inconsistently reported to KDE. (Source: testimony from Matt Ross.) - School breakfast interim report: removed; KDE said nearly all districts provide breakfast and the interim statewide report is no longer useful. (Matt Ross) - School budget publication: language tied to a 1958 statute about filing with county clerks is updated to align with modern publication practices (newspaper and district website). The change reflects that districts now act as taxing authorities. - Audits: the bill repeals KRS 157.061 (annual audits of school districts), which KDE said is duplicative of existing audit provisions (referencing other audit statutes).

Implementation and scope

KDE told the committee the changes are intended to reduce duplicative reporting and clarification burdens on districts, not to remove underlying federal or state responsibilities for wellness, nutrition monitoring or audits. KDE said federal school nutrition regulation and federal monitoring continue to apply where districts participate in those programs.

Next steps

SB 68 passed the Senate Education Committee and will proceed to the full Senate calendar for consideration.