KY gave too many students an alternative statewide test. Will money be withheld?

Federal education officials have determined too many students were given an alternative statewide test intended for those with cognitive disabilities in Kentucky last year.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher sent a message Friday to Kentucky school officials saying that as a result, the U.S. Department of Education has placed a “condition” on federal dollars for high poverty schools.

“USED placed a grant condition on Kentucky’s fiscal year 2026 Title I, Part A award,” Fletcher said.

Title 1 funds are used to improve student achievement in high poverty schools, according to the KDE website.

“Neither Kentucky nor its school districts have lost funds to date,” Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Jennifer Ginn said Monday. “Typically, before any funds are withheld, more communications with USED would occur. We’re working to meet the requirements in the letter in an effort to avoid a withholding of funds.”

Kentucky Department of Education officials said currently, numbers for federal allocations are preliminary. But a KDE document of Title 1A funding by school district for 2025-2026 shows the total amount awarded is $283 million.

Fletcher, in his message, explained that during the 2024-2025 school year, Kentucky gave slightly more than 1% of its students an alternate assessment. States are not supposed to go over that 1% threshold. KDE requested a waiver to be exempted from the rule on Aug. 12, 2025, but the U.S. Department of Education denied the request on Feb. 12.

The most recent data shows Kentucky had more than 630,000 K-12 students in 2022-23, according to the KDE website.

The U.S. Department of Education provided directions on how KDE can try to remove the condition on funding, Fletcher said. That requires the submission of an updated waiver request, an updated plan and certain data demonstrating progress in reducing the percentage of students tested on alternate assessments in the 2025-26 school year, he said.

“KDE is exploring this option, and others, to limit the impact of the denial of the waiver,” Fletcher said.

Kentucky’s successful compliance, he said, requires support and oversight to each district that will exceed the 1% threshold; monitoring to ensure districts are providing sufficient training to district staff; and addressing any disproportionality in the percentage of students taking the alternative exam.

KDE anticipates the need for increased statewide monitoring, oversight and technical assistance to ensure districts consistently follow Kentucky’s participation guidelines for each student taking the alternative test, Fletcher said.

KDE staff members have met with Special Education Regional Technical Assistance Center directors to share information about the waiver denial and to call on the directors for help with addressing the 1% participation rate.

KDE is monitoring estimated alternate assessment participation data weekly to determine if the supports are helping to decrease the anticipated participation rate.

“Current data trends show Kentucky will increase participation rates (for the alternate test) with the 2025-2026 assessment if nothing changes,” Fletcher said.

KDE will continue to communicate with the U.S. Department of Education, Fletcher said.

U.S. Department of Education officials did not immediately comment Monday.

How many KY students receive alternative testing?

Ginn said the 1% threshold for alternate testing stems from the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

“These alternate assessments are intended for students with the most cognitive disabilities. The 1% cap is not a cap on students receiving special education – only those taking the alternate test,” Ginn said.

Because 1% of all tested students is a small number, some states historically tested more than 1% using alternate assessments.

ESSA created a mechanism, the 1% waiver, to allow flexibility in limited cases. For several years, Kentucky has applied for and received the waiver for slightly exceeding the 1% limit on students assessed using the alternative test.

During the 2024-2025 school year, Kentucky assessed 1.26% of students using the alternate assessment in reading/language arts and math, and 1.23% in science.

This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM.