does not go to the governor's desk.

Instead, it is sent to the Secretary of state.

Education has been one of the top priorities during the 2026 legislative session yesterday, lawmakers passed a slew of education related bills, including legislation that would heavily impact Kentucky's largest school districts.

Our Emily Sisk has the rundown as we wrap up tonight's legislative update.

>> It was the top priority measure in the state Senate.

Senate Bill one looks to take some of the day to day operational power from the Jefferson County School Board and give it to the superintendent.

Republican leaders pushed for this measure after the Kentucky Supreme Court found that a passed similar law unfairly targeted JCPS.

As the House Majority Whip explained.

This time, lawmakers spelled out why they want to treat the district differently.

>> One of the things the Kentucky Supreme Court did was it said, if you're going to regulate for just JCPS, you need to tell us why.

And so the.

Whereas clauses which begin the bill identify all the ways that.

A number of ways that Jefferson County Public Schools is very different than the rest size.

It has a $2.3 billion budget, 93,000 students, and a lot of other things.

>> JCPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood told a committee earlier in the session that he didn't want the additional authority.

However, after major financial difficulties in the district, some members of the General Assembly said they needed to take action.

Senate Bill one was awarded final passage Wednesday evening despite objection from Democratic lawmakers.

Another sweeping priority measure was Senate Bill four, which underwent many changes throughout the session.

Originally, the bill established a principal leadership program for new school principals.

Additions to the bill make changes to the school boards in Jefferson and Fayette County's.

One highlight is that the JCPS school board would be reduced from seven elected members to five.

>> Which is what it is in every other jurisdiction, every other school district in the state.

And we're doing that for a number of reasons.

Most importantly, the Kentucky Supreme Court has said that's required recently when they said the JCPS must be treated the same.

So we're going from 7 to 5.

Unlike previous iterations of the bill, there are no appointments.

It's all elections.

Those elections will all be in this coming November.

>> Democrats in the Senate raised concerns about this change, which would require a redistricting done by the General Assembly.

>> It is a serious matter when we mess with people's representations and the way it is distributed, and it is worthy, the more oversight and more conversation than we are doing here.

>> Another provision in Senate Bill four, restricting those who reside in Jefferson or Fayette counties but teach in another district from serving on the school boards of the two largest districts.

This rule would effectively oust Fayette County School Board Chair Tyler Murphy, who teaches in Boyle County.

Murphy has come under fire for financial mismanagement in the district.

A Lexington Democrat said she felt the bill was overly targeted toward removing Murphy.

>> It's just worrisome and concerning that people who are the experts in their field in two of the largest counties may not be eligible to run for their local school board.

>> Senate Bill four was awarded final passage, mostly along party lines, with a few Republicans joining in opposition.

Other education measures that will advance to the governor's desk include House Bill 257, which would make changes to the assessment and accountability model in K-12 schools.

Testing will now focus on individual student growth, and schools can create a local accountability system where the community can give feedback on what's expected of their graduates.

The General Assembly also advanced House Bill 490, which would change employment rules for Kentucky's public universities.

The legislation allows institutions to remove faculty members if the university is having financial difficulties, like low enrollment or a lack of revenue, Democrat's said.

This could undermine University's tenure system.

Still, the bill received final passage on a 75 to 18 vote in the House.

All four of these education bills are now on the governor's desk