Request By:
Hon. C. A. Woodall, III
Post Office Box 186
Cadiz, Kentucky 42211-0186
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Anne E. Keating, Assistant Attorney General
In your recent letter, on behalf of the Trigg County Board of Education, you have asked for an opinion of the Attorney General interpreting KRS 160.380 (2) (e) as it applies to the following fact situation. Effective January 1, 1991, the Trigg County Board of education had a vacancy for the position of superintendent. The current assistant superintendent is interested in applying for the position, however, his wife, who is an employee with over 20 years of experience in the system, is currently employed as an assistant elementary principal. If the assistant superintendent were to be appointed to the position of superintendent, you ask whether the spouse might continue to remain employed with the school district as an assistant principal.
Under KRS 160.380 (2) (e), as of July 1, 1991, a superintendent has been prohibited from employing a relative in the school district. The prohibition does not apply to a superintendent's spouse who has 20 years service in school systems so long as the superintendent's spouse does not supervise anyone other than teacher aides and student teachers. In the situation that you present, the superintendent's spouse has the requisite number of years of experience in school systems. Therefore, the answer to your question depends on the duties actually assigned to the assistant principal as well as on the duties that accompany the placement of the position in the organizational structure.
As you point out, the board policy which sets forth performance responsibilities does not include supervisory responsibility over certified or classified employees. Nevertheless, the organizational chart indicates that the assistant principal does supervise classified and certified staff when serving in the absence of, and on behalf of, the principal. Since September, 1991, the assistant principal has served in the absence of the principal approximately 4-5 days out of 90 days. It is not possible to anticipate how many days an assistant principal might have to serve on behalf of a principal. So long as the number and duration of times remains small and infrequent, it is the opinion of this office that the assistant principal may not be said to have supervisory responsibility over certified and classified employees in violation of KRS 160.380 (2) (e). We interpret KRS 160.380 (2) (e) to prohibit supervisory responsibility that is regular and permanent, and not to encompass the occasional episodes that may occur when one acts, temporarily, in the place of the principal.
Therefore, given the above facts, job description, and organizational chart, it is the opinion of this office that, so long as the assistant principal merely serves, occasionally, on behalf of the principal in that individual's absence, the assistant principal would not be prohibited from continued employment with the school district should the spouse become superintendent. Nevertheless, the board could solve any potential question by eliminating from the assistant principal's duties the responsibility of serving on behalf of the principal in that individual's absence.