Could Kentucky teachers work fewer than 185 days if their district lengthened each student instructional day?

Plain-English summary

In 1997, Kentucky's Attorney General said a district's longer student instructional days did not reduce teachers' 185-day school term. The amended student requirement allowed the equivalent of 175 six-hour instructional days, or 1,050 hours. Teachers' 185 days were stated as calendar days in several separate statutes, and the AG found no comparable hours-based conversion for them.

The AG acknowledged that teachers in a district with fewer student attendance days might remain at school after students finished. It suggested shorter teacher workdays after that point as a possible response and said employment contracts might need to change.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1997. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Historical summary

Teachers and school districts

The AG distinguished student instructional time from teacher employment days. Under the 1996 amendment described in the opinion, students could complete the equivalent of 175 six-hour days in fewer calendar days if daily instruction exceeded six hours. The opinion found no similar flexibility for the teacher term: statutes on teacher pay, employment, retirement credit, and school terms repeatedly used 185 days as an absolute number.

Days after student instruction ended

The opinion recognized a possible difference in hours worked across districts. It pointed to KRS 160.345(2)(i)4 as a possible basis for shorter teacher days after students' instructional days were finished and noted that implementing this could require changing teacher employment contracts. It did not say that the 185-day term itself was shortened.

Common questions

Did 1,050 student instructional hours replace the teacher's 185-day term?

No. The AG treated the hours equivalent as a way to calculate student instructional days, while it read the teacher statutes as requiring 185 days.

If students finished in fewer than 175 days, could teachers leave for the summer at the same time?

The opinion said the shorter student calendar did not automatically shorten teachers' 185-day term. It recognized that teachers might remain after students recessed and suggested a shorter workday during that period as a possible response.

Did the AG require every teacher to work six hours on each of the 185 days?

The opinion decided the number of teacher days, not a uniform daily schedule. It expressly raised the possibility of shorter teacher days after student instruction had ended, subject to possible contract changes.

Background and statutory framework

E. Joy Arnold asked whether the 1996 change allowing an equivalent number of student instructional days also reduced teacher reporting days. The AG read KRS 158.070(1) together with statutes on teacher pay and school terms, including KRS 157.320(13), KRS 157.350, and KRS 157.360(11)(a). It also cited KRS 161.500 on retirement credit and KRS 160.345(2)(i)4 on the possible shorter workday. The opinion's first reference to the amended provision uses “KRS 158.170(1),” while its syllabus and later discussion use “KRS 158.070(1)”; the source text is reproduced as printed below.

Citations and references

• KRS 158.070(1): student instructional-time rule and 185-day school term discussed by the opinion.
• KRS 157.320(13), KRS 157.350 and KRS 157.360(11)(a): teacher pay, employment and school-year references.
• KRS 161.500: retirement service credit based on a 185-day contract.
• KRS 160.345(2)(i)4: cited for a possible shorter teacher workday after student instruction.

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_c3424236-6271-4823-9827-255a46e7be7f/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_c3424236-6271-4823-9827-255a46e7be7f

Original opinion text

OAG 97-25
August 8, 1997

Subject:

Length of school term

Requested by: E. Joy Arnold, attorney for Kentucky Education Association Written by:

Ross T. Carter

Syllabus:

Although length of school term for students depends
on number of instructional hours per day, length of
school term for teachers is 185 days

Statutes construed:
OAGs cited:

KRS 158.070(1)

None

Opinion of the Attorney General
In 1996 the General Assembly enacted the following amendment
to KRS 158.170(1):
The minimum school term shall be one hundred eighty-five
(185) days, including no less than the equivalent of [at
least] one hundred seventy-five (175) six (6) hour instructional days.

OAG 97-25
Page 2

Ky Acts 1996, c 20, § 2. Before the amendment, students had to attend school 175 calendar days; after the amendment, students have to attend school the equivalent of 175 days, or 1050 hours. In school districts adopting a schedule that provides for more than six hours of instruction per day, the total number of calendar days students must attend school is less than 175. The question presented to us is whether the number of calendar days teachers must report to work is correspondingly reduced. The answer is no. The various statutes dealing with public schools contain no reference to “the equivalent of 185 days”; on the contrary, 185 days is expressed as an absolute figure in several statutes, including:


KRS 157.320(13), which says that “teachers are paid for one
hundred eighty-five (185) days”;



KRS 157.350, which refers to school terms of not less than 185 days and the employment of teachers for not less than 185 days;



KRS 157.360(11)(a), which refers to “the regular one hundred
eighty-five (185) day school year for teachers”;



KRS 157.420, which contains four references to a 185-day school term;



KRS 161.500, which grants retirement service credit based on a 185-day employment contract;



KRS 161.623, which allows sick leave to be added to retirement service credit based on the ratio of unused sick days to 185 days.

Not one word in any of these statutes suggests that 185 days
should be read to mean anything other than what it plainly says: 185 days. The statute that allows instructional days to be computed in hours, KRS 158.070(1), itself contains an absolute reference to 185

OAG 97-25
Page 3

days and does not state or imply that 185 days can be computed in hours. We realize that this result may mean that teachers in districts that have adopted a calendar with fewer than 175 instructional days have to work more hours than teachers in districts with a regular schedule, perhaps even remaining at school for a few days after students have recessed for the summer. If that is a problem, it could be addressed by shortening the school day for teachers who must report to work after the students’ instructional days have been completed. KRS 160.345(2)(i)4. This might require a change to the employment contracts. A. B. Chandler III Attorney General

Ross T. Carter
Manager of the Opinions Branch