Bill
HB 685
Establishes a standardized teacher certification process under EPSB and creates a multi-state School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact to streamline licensure and mobility.
HB 685 (2026RS) – Summary of Key Provisions and Impact
Overview
- Jurisdiction: Kentucky
- Topic: Professional credentials for educators, plus creation of the School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact (a companion framework to facilitate cross-state licensing)
- Purpose: Modernize and clarify teacher certification requirements while establishing a multi-state compact to streamline licensure for school psychologists.
Main purpose and intent
- Reform of teacher certification: Centralizes certification authority in the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) for public schools and sets transparent pathways for initial and advanced certifications, including assessments, conditional certificates, and emeritus/exception certificates.
- Interstate compact for school psychologists: Creates a Kentucky-adopted framework to allow school psychologists to obtain equivalent licenses in other member states, improving mobility and addressing workforce shortages while maintaining public protections.
Key provisions for teacher certification (Section 1)
- Exclusive certification authority: Public school certifications are vested in EPSB; other state agencies’ licensure is not required for Kentucky public school work, except as otherwise provided by law.
- Data collection and ethnicity: After 1994, applications collect voluntary ethnicity data to help districts locate minority candidates; existing certificate holders may add this data if desired.
- Certification pathways and requirements:
- New and upgrading teachers must meet approved teacher preparation programs and pass assessments in their field.
- A five-year professional certificate is issued upon successful assessment and completion of the approved program.
- Conditional certificates (up to one year) may be issued if an applicant fails the assessments but is enrolled in a remediation/mentoring plan; successful retakes yield a five-year professional certificate.
- Temporary certificates may be issued to out-of-state teachers with under two years of experience who arrive after the assessment deadline; eligibility for a five-year certificate follows upon passing the assessments within the term.
- Fees and confidentiality: EPSB sets fees tied to assessment administration; scores are confidential and disclosure is restricted to relevant personnel.
- Substitute teaching and emeritus/exceptions: Provisions to issue substitute certificates and various five-year or ten-year emeritus/exception certificates under defined conditions.
- Approved curricula: EPSB approves teacher training curricula, including district or alternative certification programs; completed curricula with certification requirements lead to corresponding certificates.
- Employment independence: Certification decisions are not contingent on job offers; issuance is based on program completion and assessment.
Key provisions for the School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact (Section 2 and beyond)
- Purpose and effect: Establishes a multi-state compact enabling school psychologists to obtain equivalent licenses in member states, facilitating mobility and addressing shortages while preserving state authority to regulate practice.
- Definitions: Comprehensive glossary covering licenses, home state, equivalent licenses, active military considerations, discipline, practice scope, qualifications, and compliance mechanisms.
- State participation and eligibility: States must enact model compact language, share information, maintain lists of equivalent licenses, and enforce reporting of adverse actions.
- Activation and use of equivalent licenses: To practice in a remote state, a licensee must hold an active home state license, meet any state-specific requirements, complete application steps and background checks, and comply with renewal standards.
- Discipline and data sharing: States may access disciplinary records; protections for confidentiality apply, and due process is maintained.
- Commission governance (Section 7) and financing: Establishes a School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact Commission with voting delegates, rules, oversight, dispute resolution, emergency rulemaking, and funding via member-state assessments and licensee fees.
- Termination and withdrawal: Provisions for withdrawal, default cures, and continuity of licenses for a transitional period.
Potential impact
- For Kentucky educators: A clearer, standardized pathway to certification with explicit timelines, assessments, and renewals; greater flexibility in credentialing, including conditional and emeritus options.
- For school psychology workforce: A formal mechanism to practice across participating states, potentially expanding access to services in Kentucky and other member states while preserving public safety through background checks and state-specific requirements.
- Administrative: EPSB gains strengthened regulatory authority over certification; the state joins a federal-style interstate framework that requires coordination, funding, and ongoing rulemaking.
Note: HB 685 includes amendments reflecting both the teacher-certification framework and the new School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact, with an accompanying floor and committee amendments.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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