(FRANKFORT, KY) – Leaders with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) provided insight into Senate Bill 181, legislation passed in 2025 that governs how school district employees and volunteers can communicate with students, during the Superintendents Webcast on July 15.
The district’s board of education must designate one or more traceable communication systems as the exclusive means for school district employees and volunteers to communicate with students, absent some exception or written consent of parents to use a different communication system. The communication systems must trace all communications sent to or by a student and provide parents an opportunity to access and review those communications.
Todd Allen, KDE deputy commissioner and general counsel, said the department has received many questions about the law and its impact on communication between teachers, district staff members and students. KDE asked superintendents and other district leaders to submit questions to the department and developed a Senate Bill 181 Traceable Communication Systems FAQ document to provide clarity on how to implement the new legal requirements.
Allen went into detail about some of the biggest questions about the legislation during the webcast. In response to one of the most-asked questions, he said the language of the bill applies only to communication between district employees, volunteers and students that are enrolled within the same school district.
“There are several paragraphs (in the guidance document) that lay out our analysis and our reasoning … but high level, when you look at Senate Bill 181’s provisions, it requires a school district to authorize one or more traceable communication systems, but those systems are only going to be available to the employees and volunteers of that particular district to communicate with students of their district,” Allen said, noting that disciplinary procedures and parental complaint forms are also handled at the district level.
The Senate Bill 181 guidance document also clarifies several of the legal definitions included in the legislation, potential exceptions, reporting requirements and how educators should navigate social media and situations where they may interact with students outside of school-related activities, like church groups or scout troops.
More guidance documents from KDE are available on the KDE Legislative Guidance webpage.
Agriculture Education Week
The next All In for Ag Education Week has been scheduled for Sept. 15-19, and superintendents received an update about the initiative from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
Agriculture Education Week is a collaboration between the Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Department of Agriculture and Team Kentucky to deliver an all-encompassing learning experience for students, equip educators with ready-to-use lessons and foster community involvement to create vibrant learning opportunities on the diverse world of agriculture for students.
Bethany Mattingly, director of agriculture education and outreach at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, provided a snapshot of data on the first All In for Ag Education Week, which was held March 17-21.
Mattingly said 63% of Kentucky counties participated in the first All In for Ag Education Week, and the department received an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 from educators and community members about their experience with the initiative. The information also included responses from educators about the strengths and weaknesses of All In for Ag Education Week, along with requests for more resources to bolster agriculture education.
“The reason why we’re doing this is to make sure that kids know about agriculture because it impacts us every single day. We can’t go five seconds without being impacted by agriculture, so it just makes sense that we know just a little bit about it,” Mattingly said.
Mattingly said agriculture education also boosts student engagement.
“There’s a lot of research out there that shows that students who are involved in agriculture class are really engaged,” she said. “They show up to class. They tend to have better scores on tests, especially around science and math, because of those practical elements that go into agriculture.”
Mattingly previewed some of what the Kentucky Department of Agriculture has planned for the next All In for Ag Education Week, including new school coordinators, more guest speakers, more supplies and more lesson plan offerings. More details can be found on the All In for Ag Education Week website.
In other business:
- KDE provided an update on the 2025-2026 Impact Kentucky Working Conditions Survey, which will be administered between Nov. 10 and Dec. 19 this year.
- Jennifer Stafford, associate commissioner of KDE’s Office of Assessment and Accountability, informed superintendents that KDE has awarded a contract to College Board to administer the SAT for the state administration of the college admissions exam, as required by KRS 158.6453, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year for rising juniors in the Class of 2027.
- Representatives with the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health’s Domestic Violence Workgroup presented two evidence-based curricula identified to strengthen awareness of dating violence, Safe Dates and the 4th R Program, and promote collaboration between schools and advocacy organizations.
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