Request By:
Mr. Edward W. Wright
Superintendent
Franklin County School System
916 East Main Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Robert L. Chenoweth, Deputy Attorney General
As the Superintendent of the Franklin County School System you have asked whether a school board has the authority to require additional credits beyond the minimum required by the State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education. It is the opinion of the Office of the Attorney General that local boards do have such authority.
KRS 156.160(2) reads as follows:
"The state board for elementary and secondary education shall adopt rules and regulations relating to:
* * *
(2) Grading, classifying and accrediting all common schools, and for determining the scope of instruction that may be offered in the different classes of schools, and the minimum requirements for graduation from the courses offered;"
Thus, clearly the State Board may, by regulation, establish "the minimum requirements for graduation from the courses offered."
The State Board, pursuant to KRS 156.160(2), has adopted and promulgated 704 KAR 3:305, copy attached. This regulation establishes as the minimum credit requirements for high school graduation a total of eighteen. Ten are "required" courses as follows: Language arts - 3; Social studies - 2; Mathematics - 2; Science - 2; Health - 1/2; and Physical education - 1/2. The remaining eight credits are so-called "electives."
The Franklin County Board of Education desires to prescribe by policy that additional credits in English and Mathematics will be required in order to graduate from the Franklin County Schools. We believe local boards do have the authority to prescribe graduation requirements above those "minimally" required by the State Board. If KRS 156.160 were to be read as limiting the number of credits to whatever the State Board decides by regulation, the setting of the minimum number of credits for graduation would also be, in effect, the maximum number. We do not believe the statute can be so read. As a general rule, a local board of education may not scale down requirements, but can usually enlarge those minimally required. See, for example, KRS 160.380, which permits a local board to require qualifications for its employees beyond those prescribed by law and State Board regulations. Thus, it is the opinion of the Office of the Attorney General that a local board of education, pursuant to its broad authority under KRS 160.290, may require additional credit requirements over those minimally established by regulation of the State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education.
To the extent OAG 79-253 is interpreted to be in conflict with this opinion, it is hereby modified accordingly.