Request By:
Ms. Yvonne Langford
Butler County Board of Education
P.O. Box 339
Morgantown, Kentucky 42261
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Ian G. Sonego, Assistant Attorney General
You have asked us to address two questions regarding the Education Reform Act of 1990 ( Kentucky Acts 1990, Chapter 476), Sections 54, 55, and 57, complied as KRS 161.011, 161.020, 161.030, regarding school bus drivers and cooks.
Your first question is whether school bus drivers and cooks are "classified employees" or "certified employees" for purposes of KRS Chapter 161. We note the terms are not as clearly defined as we might like.
KRS 161.011(1) states:
"Classified employee" shall mean an employee of a local district who is not required to have certification for his position as provided in KRS 161.020 .
[Emphasis added.]
KRS 161.020(1) states:
No person shall be eligible to hold the position of superintendent, principal, teacher, supervisor, director of pupil personnel, or other public school position for which certificates may be issued , or receive salary for services rendered in such position, unless he holds a certificate of legal qualifications for such position.
[Emphasis added.]
KRS 161.030 states in pertinent part:
(1) . . . when so certified, teachers and other school personnel shall not be required to have licensure, certification, or other forms of approval from any other state agency for the performance of their respective assignments within the grammar schools, except as provided for by law . . .
(2) Certificates shall be issued to persons who have completed, at colleges, universities, or local school district programs approved by the Education Professional Standards Board for the preparation of teachers and other school personnel , the curricula prescribed by the administrative regulations of the Education Professional Standards Board . . .
(10) The Education Professional Standards Board shall approve the curricula of any standard college or university, or any department thereof, for the training of teachers, and shall also approve the curricula of any local district alternative certification program , when the curricula comply with the administrative regulations of the Education Professional Standards Board for the issuance of certificates has set the terms provided in KRS 161.010 to 161.120 . . .
[Emphasis added.]
KRS 161.048 establishes the criteria for the alternative certification program and refers to teaching and instructional fields.
KRS 161.120(1) states:
Any certificate issued under KRS 161.010 to 161.100, or any certificate or license issued under any previous law to superintendents, principals, teachers, supervisors, directors of pupil personnel, or other administrative, supervisory, or instructional employees may be revoked by the Education Professional Standards Board for immorality, misconduct in office, incompetency, violation of the school laws of the state or administrative regulations adopted by the State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education, willful neglect of duty, or upon the determination that a certificate applicant presented or declared false information toward obtaining the issuance or renewal of any type of teacher certification .
[Emphasis added.]
KRS Chapter 161 could be interpreted as authorizing the Commissioner of Education to define "certified employee" to include any employee. We do not so interpret it. Reading KRS Chapter 161 as a whole we interpret "certified employee" to mean teacher, principal, superintendent, director of pupil personnel, and any employee who supervises any such employee or who has any type of responsibility for instruction or teaching of pupils. We conclude that school bus drivers and cooks are not "certified employees" and therefore are "classified employees" .
Your second question is whether school bus drivers and cooks are required to hold a high school diploma or GED. KRS 161.011(3) states:
No person who is initially hired after July 13, 1990, shall be eligible to hold the position of a classified employee or receive salary for services rendered in such position, unless he holds at least a high school diploma or GED certificate, or he shows progress toward obtaining a GED . To show progress toward obtaining a GED, a person shall be enrolled in a GED program and be progressing satisfactorily through the program, as defined by administrative regulations adopted by the State Board for Adult, Vocational Education and Vocational Rehabilitation.
[Emphasis added.]
Hence, anyone employed as a bus driver or cook initially before or on July 13, 1990, does not need a high school diploma or GED certificate. Anyone initially employed after that date may satisfy the requirement by enrolling in a GED program and proceeding under the schedule for satisfactory progress set by the Board of Adult, Vocational Education and Vocational Rehabilitation.