Request By:
Ms. Nash Cox
Executive Director
The Kentucky Arts Commission
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; John F. Zink, Assistant Attorney General
As the Executive Director of the Kentucky Arts Commission, you have requested an official opinion from this office concerning the effects of Senate Bill 291, now codified as KRS 158.107, as it relates to such activities as field trips, and in particular, those activities which lend themselves to the cultural enrichment of Kentucky's common school students. In answering your request, it is first necessary to examine the complete text of KRS 158.107:
(1) No public common school shall charge a fee, or rental, or require a student to purchase instructional materials for enrollment, full participation, or completion in any regular school program, grades kindergarten through twelve (12). Fees do not include items of personal attire, purchase or rental of musical instruments, or materials, other than instructional materials which become the property of the pupil.
(2) Each public school district shall make an annual report to the department of education no later than August 1 for the preceding school year on a form provided by the department which specifies the amount of funds expended for consumable classroom supplemental instructional materials. The total of such expenditures shall be an amount at least equal of five dollars ($5.00) per child in average daily attendance. A copy of this report shall be maintained in the local superintendent's office for public inspection.
It is important to note that this statute applies to all students of Kentucky's public common schools in grades kindergarten through twelve (12). In general, the statute is a prohibition against the charging of fees, rental payments, or making of a requirement that a student purchase instructional materials in order that the student enroll, fully participate, or complete any regular school program.
In examining what is permissible under KRS 158.107 (that is for what things may a public common school student be legally subjected to a fee, rental charge, or required purchase), reference must necessarily be made to KRS 158.060 which in its pertinent provisions for the purposes of this opinion states:
. . . Except for children attending kndergarten, readiness classes, first grade classes, and the handicapped, who may attend a program of less than six (6) hours per day under policy adopted by the local school district board of education and approved by the state board for elementary and secondary education, six (6) hours of actual school work shall constitute a school day. The daily session, including recesses and intermissions, shall not exceed nine (9) hours. . . . (Emphasis added).
The above statute, while allowing a maximum school day of nine (9) hours, requires that in each school day there be at least six (6) hours of actual school work. This would mean that any activity which takes place during any portion of the required six (6) hours of actual school must necessarily be designated as part of the regular school program. (See also: 703 KAR 2:010 §§ 7, 8).
In construing the meaning of KRS 158.107 it is important to remember that the words used in a statute must be given their ordinary meaning unless a different intent is set forth in the statute defining the words used. Old Lewis Hunter Distilling Co. v. Kentucky Tax Commission, Ky. 193 S.W.2d 464 (1946); Gateway Construction Co. v. Wallbaum, Ky. 356 S.W.2d 247 (1961). In addition, the primary objective when construing a statute is to determine the legislative intent and purpose as ascertained from the language of the statute. City of Covington v. Sohio Petroleum Co., Ky. 279 S.W.2d 746 (1955). Where a statute is unambiguous, it should be given effect according to its literal meaning. Hilliard v. United States, 310 F.2d 631 (6th Cir. 1962). In the present situation, the language of KRS 158.107 is clear and unambiguous; the words used in the statute must be given their ordinary meaning as a different intent is not set forth in the statute.
The key language involved in this statute is: "No public common school shall charge a fee . . . for . . . full participation . . . in any regular school program." Any activity which would take place during the required six (6) hours of actual school work would necessarily come within the meaning of "regular school program" as used in KRS 158.107(1). This would include an activity which takes up even a minimal amount of the time required by KRS 158.060 for actual school work. For those activities which may be conducted on time other than the required six (6) hours of actual school work, KRS 158.107 would prohibit the charging of any fee where such an activity is required of a student for enrollment, full participation, or completion of any course work (i.e. regular school program). For example, if a student enrolled in a music class, and as part of the class the student must attend a performance of an opera company in order to fully participate, enroll, or complete the course, then the school could not charge a fee for the student to attend that performance.
Therefore, taking these various statutory provisions together, it is apparent that KRS 158.107 prohibits the charging of a fee for any activity, program, or trip which is tied in with or connected to the student's enrollment or full participation in any regular school program. The scope of this statute also extends to those school sponsored trips or activities which, even though they take place at a time other than the regular school day, are made part of the student's regular school program.
KRS 158.107(1) provides that fees for items of personal attire, the purchase or rental of musical instruments, or for materials other than instructional materials which become the property of the pupil, are not prohibited under the statute. It has been suggested that this statute is solely a prohibition of fees for instructional materials; however, it is the firm opinion of this office that KRS 158.107 is not an "instructional materials" statute. If the statute were so interpreted, there would have been no need to include in the statute the language in subsection (1) which specifically exempts the above-mentioned items.
This office was also requested by you to specify some potential sources of alternative funding for activities such as field trips. One such source of funding could be through the amount of money in excess of the required five dollars ($5.00) which each public school district must expend for consumable classroom supplemental instructional materials per child in average daily attendance. The money in excess of the five dollars ($5.00) appropriated by the General Assembly for the replacement of student fees could, at the discretion of the school district, be spent for various desired activities. Another source of funds for field trips and other activities would be from money raised by parent and teacher organizations or school booster clubs. Such money could be spent to enable all public common school students affected to fully participate in such an activity.