Five Key Messages
- Kentucky has been a national leader and pioneer in K-12 educational technology since the creation of KETS in 1992, but we are always trying to get better. For example, Kentucky became the first state to provide Internet access to every Kentucky public school district in 1995 and is currently the national leader in K-12 cloud-based computing.
- Technology is not the goal. Student learning is the goal. Technology-enabled services are tools that can add value and support district educational plans, academic standards, and student success.
- We want students to be well prepared for their next steps in life. Kentucky students should graduate with the technology and nontechnology skills necessary for postsecondary education, military service, and the workforce.
- We support a balanced and healthy use of technology, including appropriate screen use, digital citizenship, Internet safety, and responsible AI integration. We recommend continuing to allow teachers and schools to determine whether, when, how, and how much technology is used or not used in their classrooms and schools.
- We want to ensure technology investments are maximizing value for students, teachers, staff, and leaders. Kentucky's education technology investments support both educational outcomes and operational efficiency, allowing districts to share services, reduce duplication, and focus more resources on students while supporting an efficient system of common schools.
Eighteen resources that support these Five Key Messages:
- KY K-12 Educational Plan. It is important to first have a strong educational plan in the district and then use technology-enabled services to support the goals in that plan when appropriate. Every district is required to have a district technology plan (2026-2027 Technology Plan Template (1).pdf). Within those district technology plans is how the district is supporting the overall educational priorities of their district. 2024 - 2030 KETS Master Plan - Kentucky Department of Education.
- KY Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) report on KY Education Technology Services in August 2025. The Kentucky Education Technology System (KETS) was identified as a Top 4 noteworthy accomplishment: APA Audit KETS Snippet. Through statewide technology services, Kentucky districts avoid significant local infrastructure costs while benefiting from shared statewide platforms that support instruction, financial management, student information systems, cybersecurity, communications, and digital learning. KETS is not primarily about student devices. It is the infrastructure that supports teaching, learning, school finance, student records, cybersecurity, communications, testing, safety systems, and operational efficiency across Kentucky schools.
- The KY K-12 student technology leadership program (STLP). Kentucky's Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) is the best student technology leadership program in the nation. The program serves nearly 60,000 Kentucky students and is an outstanding example of project-based learning through which students apply academic standards using technology to solve real-world problems.
- On 20 August 2026, the U.S. Department of Education released its perspective on the topics of K-12 screen use and AI: https://tinyurl.com/nationalguidance. This national guidance is consistent with our KY K-12 EdTech perspective on both topics.
- KY K-12 Computer Use Guide. This is a link to the document KDE recently released publicly on August 18, 2026: screen-use-full.pdf - Google Drive
- KY K-12 technology-enabled services: mission-critical services beyond the student computer. As the son of a Kentucky K-12 teacher, I joined KDE in 1992 to help launch KETS following my education at the United States Military Academy at West Point and my service in the U.S. Army after Operation Desert Storm. I wanted to be part of an initiative that would improve Kentucky operationally, educationally, and economically. Today, as the father of a Kentucky K-12 teacher, that mission remains deeply personal to me. Kentucky's Constitution and laws call for an efficient system of common schools that applies to curriculum, administration, instructional content, and facilities. The KETS timeline demonstrates how technology-enabled services have supported that mission since 1992. Kentucky became the first state to provide Internet access to every public school district and is now the national leader in statewide K-12 cloud-based services. These shared services have saved hundreds of millions of dollars and improved operational efficiency throughout Kentucky schools.
Mission-critical services supported through this infrastructure include:
- Munis financial management
- Infinite Campus student information management
- Phone systems
- Email systems
- Video systems
- School security systems
- Cybersecurity systems
- HVAC systems
- Instructional applications
- Simulations
- Online testing
- Project-based learning
These services are supported by the KDE-provided Internet service delivered to every Kentucky district, school, and classroom through Zayo Education Internet Services.
- This is a recent Infographic on KY K-12 Edtech was provided to the KY Board of Education on 9 August 2026: 2024 - 2030 KETS Master Plan - Appendix B - Kentucky Department of Education
- Kentucky Education Technology System (KETS) timeline of historic achievements in KY K-12 EdTech since the birth of KETS in 1992 through today was provided to the KY Board of Education on 9 August 2026. KETS Timeline_2026. KETS and KY K-12 have been a pioneer and national leader in most aspects of education technology since 1992, but are always trying to be better.
- KY K-12 academic standards for technology. Kentucky has long recognized technology competency as an important workforce and postsecondary readiness skill. A 2006 Kentucky law requires students to demonstrate technology competency upon graduation. The updated Kentucky Academic Standards for Technology were presented to the Local Superintendents Advisory Council (LSAC) and the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) during summer 2026. Both organizations supported the updated standards and continued support for the technology competency requirement:
We’ll also be updating the KY K-12 academic standards for computer science and library media in December 2026.
- KY K-12 IT certifications and Computer Science. Our KDE Office of Education Technology also works closely with KDE’s Office of Career and Technical Education on marketable IT certifications and Computer Science (CS) advanced placement opportunities through our KY K-12 IT Academy. Here is the most current 2025 Kentucky Annual Computer Science Report.
- KY K-12 Digital Learning Coaches. There are close to 600 digital learning coaches in KY K-12 districts that help teachers maximize the use of the investment in technology in the classroom: Digital Learning Coaches - Kentucky Department of Education
- KY K-12 digital citizenship skills for KY K-12 students and adults. Since the early days of KETS, we have had a focus on helping KY K-12 students and adults be good digital citizens; Digital Citizenship - Kentucky Department of Education. We have also established the nation’s first digital driver’s license for KY K-12 students and adults.
- The KY K-12 Digital Learning Guidelines: Kentucky Digital Learning Guidelines
- KY K-12 Internet Content Management System (ICMS). Since a 1998 law, there has been an ICMS (i.e., GoGuardian since 2025, Lightspeed and Microsoft Proxy before then) made available to all 171 KY K-12 school districts and all KDE organizations for all KY K-12 students and adults. This tool allows each school district to identify the Internet sites that they want to allow their students to go to or not go to as well as tracking Internet activity when using a district-provided device over the KETS Internet service that is provided to all school districts. This service extends beyond the school campus when using a school district-provided computer, which means when KY K-12 students and adults use a school-issued computer over their home’s Internet service or some other location (e.g., from a hotel or restaurant), they can still only go to the locations on the Internet that their school wants them to go to and not go to, as well as continuing to track their Internet activity while using that school-provided computer. The GoGuardian service also has the ability to allow the school and parents to see where students are going and how long they went there.
- Healthy digital diet of KY K-12 students.
Teachers and principals have always been responsible for deciding whether, when, and how much technology is used and not used in their classrooms and schools. We recommend preserving that local instructional decision-making. Technology should be used when it adds educational value, not simply because it is available. A school where every student spends 6-7 hours per day on a computer every day of the school year would be an outlier, not the Kentucky norm. We support teachers and principals who identify excessive usage and want to move toward a healthier instructional balance. It is also important to distinguish educational use of school-provided technology from recreational use of personally owned smartphones and other devices at home or beyond the school campus. Kentucky districts have long used Internet content management tools to limit entertainment and social media access on school-issued devices, and many districts have also limited students' use of personally owned smartphones during the school day. During the committee presentation, we will share information regarding typical technology usage in Kentucky schools, including the very limited use often seen in K-2 classrooms and usage patterns in older grades. The evidence does not indicate that the average Kentucky student spends all day or most of the school day using a school computer.
- If you go to the following link, you’ll be able to see and listen to our discussion with KY K-12 district CIOs/EdTech leaders on this topic on August 18th: EdTech Webcast – August 18, 2026 | KDE MEDIA PORTAL.
- If you go to the following link, you’ll see the topic of screen time and AI discussed during Kentucky Tonight on 24 August 2026: Screen Time in Schools | Kentucky Tonight
- Regarding AI in KY K-12, I encourage you to visit the following link on KDE’s Office of Education Technology landing page. It includes information, resources, and guidance we have provided to Kentucky school districts on AI since 2023: AI in Kentucky K-12, August 2026 - Kentucky Department of Education. We believe students must learn how to use AI responsibly because they will graduate into a world where AI technologies are increasingly common in higher education, the workforce, and everyday life. However, how much AI is or isn’t used in a KY K-12 district, school, and classroom will be the comfort and confidence that the superintendent, principal, and teacher have or don’t have in AI as it relates to their educational goals, needs, and values as it relates to instruction, student learning, assessment, and appropriate classroom use of AI technologies.
In closing, Kentucky K-12’s educational technology efforts have never been about technology for technology's sake. Since the creation of KETS in 1992, the goal has remained constant: leveraging technology-enabled services to improve teaching, learning, operational efficiency, student opportunity, and Kentucky's economic future while maintaining appropriate safeguards for student well-being, privacy, and safety.