Request By:
Mr. Ronald E. Chumley
Superintendent, Paris City Schools
301 West Seventh Street
Paris, Kentucky 40361
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Mitchell L. Perry, Assistant Attorney General
RE: SCHOOL BOARD ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
By letter dated August 29, 1990, you requested a written opinion concerning eligibility requirements for school board members. You ask:
[I]s an individual who withdrew from high school with fourteen credits and entered the Armed Forces on 4 November 1952, honorably completed his military obligations, entered an accredited college in September 1956 and earned 46 1/2 credit hours, has been a board member for 16 years and is presently chairman, eligible to run for re-election?
KRS 160.180(2) sets forth the eligibility requirements for school board members in the state of Kentucky. That statute provides, in pertinent part:
No person shall be eligible to membership on a board of education:
. . . .
(c) Unless he has completed at least the twelfth grade or has been issued a GED certificate and he is elected after July 13, 1990; and
(d) An affidavit signed under penalty of perjury certifying completion of the twelfth grade or the equivalent as determined by passage of the twelfth grade equivalency examination held under regulations adopted by the State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education has been filed with the nominating petition required by KRS 118.315; . . .
The Kentucky Administrative Regulations define twelfth grade education as follows:
A twelfth grade education means completion of high school and receipt of a high school diploma as issued by a local board of education within the guidelines of the curriculm requirements of the State Board of Education or high school equivalency (GED) certificate as defined in 709 KAR 1:030.
702 KAR 1:120.
The Kentucky appellate courts have consistently held that the process of interpreting statutory language should be guided by the original intention of the legislature. The legislative intent is drawn from the meaning expressed or implied in the statute itself. See ,
Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control v. Liquor Outlet, Inc., Ky.App., 734 S.W.2d 816 (1987);
Commonwealth v. Carroll County Fiscal Court, Ky.App., 633 S.W.2d 720 (1982). The requirements for school board eligibility are clearly stated and subject to plain meaning interpretation.
The Kentucky Legislature has specifically established the criteria necessary to be a member of a school board. After July 13, 1990, all candidates must either have a high school diploma or a GED. The statute is clear on its face. Neither an honorable discharge from the military nor college credit are substitutes for the statutory criteria.
We are therefore of the opinion that to be eligible to serve another term as a school board member the individual described in your letter must complete the twelfth grade or obtain his GED and must file an affidavit as required under KRS 160.180(2)(d) certifying completion of the twelfth grade or its equivalent.