Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday is giving school districts an extra incentive to increase the dropout age to 18.
Under a law passed this year, school districts may voluntary decide to increase the dropout age from 16 to 18. If 55 percent of Kentucky’s school districts adopt the policy, all districts must follow within four years.The Kentucky Board of Education approved a resolution Wednesday urging school districts to approve a policy change.In that same meeting, Holliday announced a plan to grant the first 57 school districts that adopt a new policy $10,000. Holliday says the money could be used for the district’s implementation plan to support career and technical education or other community resources.School districts can begin adopting the new policy July 1 of this year, but the law wouldn’t be implemented until the 2015-2016 school year.Jefferson County Public Schools officials have expressed interest in increasing the dropout age to 18, and District 7 board member Chris Brady has said he would like JCPS to be the first in the state to do so.
