Kentucky is the one state in this series where the paperwork is probably not yours. The duty to tell the board your child has left belongs to the new school. It only becomes your job if that school declines, and if it declines it has to tell you so in writing.
Which produces the one question a Kentucky family should ask and almost never does. It is at the end of this paragraph, and if you read nothing else, read it. Will you be notifying the board, or am I?
It shall be the duty of each private, parochial, or church regular day school to notify the local board of education of those students in attendance at the school.
Kentucky Revised Statutes 159.030
Every other state in this series puts the filing on the parent. New York wants an individualised plan from you. Arizona wants an affidavit from you, filed with the county. New Jersey wants nothing from anyone. Kentucky starts from the opposite end: the school does it.
And what happens if the school declines
The statute anticipates it, and the wording matters because it protects you.
If a school declines, for any reason, to notify the local board of education of those students in attendance, it shall so notify each student’s parent or legal guardian in writing, and it shall then be the duty of the parent or legal guardian to give proper notice to the local board.
Kentucky Revised Statutes 159.030
So the duty can land on you, but only after the school has told you in writing that it is landing on you. A family that assumed the school was handling it, while the school assumed the family was, is precisely the gap this sentence exists to close. It closes it with a piece of paper, which is why you want that piece of paper.
Note also what this means for a household teaching at home independently. Kentucky treats a home school as a private school, so there is no third party to pass the duty to. You are the school. The notice is yours.
The letter, ready to send
Send this to the school you are leaving. It asks for the records while you are still a current family, and it settles the notice question in the same breath.
Withdrawal and records request · copy and fill in
[Date]
[Principal name]
[School name]
[School address]
Dear [Principal name],
This letter is to advise you that my child, [student full name], date of birth [DOB], currently in grade [grade], is withdrawing from [school name] effective [date], and will be receiving instruction elsewhere.
Please provide a complete copy of my child’s school records, including the transcript, immunization record, attendance record, and any current individualized education program or 504 plan. Please also confirm in writing the date the withdrawal takes effect.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Address]
[Phone and email]
Then a second, shorter message to whichever school your child is joining, or to yourself if you are the school:
Under KRS 159.030 the duty to notify the local board of education of students in attendance rests with the school. Please confirm in writing whether your school will be giving that notice for [student full name], or whether that duty is passing to me as parent or guardian.
The records to ask for, and why each one matters
- The transcript
The only document proving what has already been earned. Ask for an official copy while your child is still on the roll, which is a different conversation from asking afterward. - The immunization record
Needed by whatever comes next, and tedious to rebuild from a paediatric office years later. - The attendance record
Seldom requested and occasionally decisive, because it documents what was actually happening in the year you are leaving. - The IEP or 504 plan, if there is one
The plan belongs to the district that wrote it and does not travel with your child. The copy does, and it is what any future evaluation starts from. - Course descriptions for credits in progress
If a course is half finished, the description is what a receiving school reads when deciding on partial credit. - Written confirmation of who gives notice
The one piece of paper this state’s statute is built around. Whoever holds the duty, have it in writing.
Who does what, and when
| Situation | Who notifies the local board |
|---|---|
| Your child enrolls in a private or church day school | The school, as a duty under the statute |
| That school declines to give notice | It must tell you in writing, and the duty then becomes yours |
| You are teaching at home yourselves | You are the school, so the notice is yours |
| Nobody has said which applies | Ask, and get the answer in writing before you rely on it |
Not sure which of these applies to your student?
Fifteen minutes with the transcript in front of somebody settles it. Whichever door suits you, nothing about it commits you to enrolling.
What happens to the credits already earned
This is the question families ask before any other. KRS 159.030 governs attendance and notice. It does not compel a receiving school to accept credit earned elsewhere, so the answer rests on the record you can produce and on the school receiving it.
Which is exactly why the transcript and the course descriptions sit near the top of the checklist. A documented credit travels. A credit that exists only as a memory of a good semester does not.
Before you send anything
Ask the question in writing.
Will the new school notify the board, or are you? It is one sentence and it is the whole of Kentucky’s requirement.
Request the records the same week.
You are a current family today. That changes the moment the student comes off the roll.
Keep whatever comes back.
If a school declines the duty it has to say so in writing. That letter is your evidence that you then handled it.
If you are teaching at home, treat yourself as the school.
Kentucky treats a home school as a private school, so there is no third party and the notice is yours to give.
Comparing Kentucky with somewhere else, or moving? The differences between states are not cosmetic. Arizona’s affidavit goes to the county rather than the district, and requires a second notice if you stop. New Jersey requires no notice at all and forbids the district from reviewing a curriculum. New York requires an individualised plan, quarterly reports and an annual assessment, and issues no diploma for home instruction. Our state withdrawal guides take them one at a time.
And if what you are really weighing is what happens to your student’s credits and how long remains to a diploma, that is a short conversation with a counselor and the transcript in front of you. Book a time or call (888) 242-4262. Families already looking at online options can start at the Kentucky K-12 online home school overview.
Source: Kentucky Revised Statutes 159.030, Exemptions from compulsory attendance, within KRS Chapter 159. This page describes the statute as published and is not legal advice.