FRANKFORT, Ky. — There could be more changes coming to how schools are rated in Kentucky

Senate Bill 158 would alter the school accountability system that was revamped by 2017’s Senate Bill 1. 

It adds more factors to a school's rating, including test scores, school safety, English proficiency, high school graduation rates, and transition readiness rates.

The bottom five percent of schools would still be flagged as schools that need to develop an improvement plan, but that would happen every three years instead of annually.

The bill’s sponsor, Senate President Pro Tempore David Givens, said it also allows schools to appeal their ranking. 

“This matters to schools. Understand how much this matters, to be put into that space as a CSI or a TSI school, these are professionals that heed their schools very proudly. This matters to these people,” Givens said. “They certainly want to turn these schools around. They certainly want to turn the school around. They also want to make sure they fall into that category justly.”

Another major change would remove the Kentucky Department of Education from the auditing process, meaning school districts would have to bring in outside groups to develop their turnaround plans.

The bill also requires school ratings and other data to be posted online.