Kentucky school visitor management law

What does the Kentucky law require?

Each local board of education must require the school council, or the principal if there is no council, in each school building to carry out a list of safety duties. One duty is to develop and follow practices that control access to each school building. All schools must comply with these access-control provisions. The practices must include controlling outside access to exterior doors during the school day. They must include controlling the main entrance with electronically locking doors, a camera and an intercom system. Public charter schools must follow the same health and safety requirements as all public schools.

Do visitors have to show ID?

All visitors must report to the building's front office, show valid identification and state the purpose of their visit. Visitors must be given a badge to wear visibly on an outer garment. Sex-offender registrants may not be on, or loiter within 1,000 feet of, school grounds, unless the principal or school board gives them advance written permission.

What about classroom doors?

The practices must include controlling access to individual classrooms. Classroom doors must have hardware that locks from the outside and opens from the inside. Classroom doors must stay closed and locked during instructional time. The two exceptions: only one student and one adult are in the room, or the state school security marshal has given written approval. Classroom doors with windows must have material to quickly cover the window during a lockdown. The practices must allow secondary locks on classroom doors, even where the Kentucky Building Code says otherwise.

What are the deadlines, and who checks?

By November 1 of each school year, the superintendent must verify to the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) that all district schools comply. A district with a school not in compliance by July 1, 2022 cannot get KDE approval for new construction or expansion until compliance is verified. That bar does not apply to facility improvements that specifically address these safety and security requirements. The state school security marshal's office conducts on-site compliance reviews as the marshal deems necessary. The current version of KRS 158.162 took effect July 15, 2024.

How can schools pay for it?

The 2026 state budget (HB 500) includes $15,000,000 in each fiscal year for the Center for School Safety. Those funds may be used at public and private schools, and no more than $2,000,000 a year may be kept for operations and administration.