Webster County School District

What is Senate Bill 181:  Traceable Communications?

The Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation during the 2025 Regular Session, and Governor Andy Beshear signed it into law to protect students and safeguard school communication. The legislation is commonly referred to as SB 181.

After receiving bipartisan support from the legislature, school districts are now responsible for overseeing broad restrictions on employee and volunteer communications with students.

The bill states ALL those who work or volunteer in any Kentucky public school may not electronically communicate (including personal phone calls, text messaging, and social media connections with students, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat) with any enrolled public school students, unless the employee or volunteer is:

• Using an approved, “traceable” school platform.
• An immediate family member.  
• Covered by a consent form issued by the school district and completed by the parent/guardian for each staff or volunteer.

What are the penalties for violating this law?

For school staff, violating this law puts their employment at risk, and for teachers, their certification would also be in jeopardy.  Volunteers who violate the law would be barred from volunteer service in a public school system.

What are approved traceable communications systems for Webster County Schools?

• ParentSquare/StudentSquare
• Infinite Campus
• Google Workspace for Education, which includes Google Classroom and other tools such as Docs, Slides, and Sheets
• Imagine Edgenuity 
• District provided email @stu.webster.kyschools.us or @webster.kyschools.us

For certain situations, such as close family friends or babysitters, the parent and employee can complete a parental consent form and submit it to the Webster County Board of Education office. Parents may revoke this permission at any time.

A parent must submit a consent form for each permission granted, and the employee must also sign it. The consent form will not be accepted unless all requirements are met, including valid signatures from both the parent and employee. Consent forms must be renewed each year and may be revoked at any time.

The completed consent form must be returned to the Webster County Board of Education office prior to the communication taking place. The Webster County Schools Consent for Outside Traceable Communications (“the waiver”) and the SB 181 Revoking Consent forms are available at Webster County Board of Education, 28 State Route 1340, Dixon, KY 42409, or by request at 270-639-5083.