Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern
Despite a handful of Republicans voting no, the Kentucky House passed a measure that would expand options for public school districts that have lost instructional time to weather closures and other reasons, including recent statewide flooding.
If House Bill 241 becomes law, Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher would be authorized to grant up to five “disaster relief student attendance days” when schools could provide instruction without having students in the classroom. Fletcher could also waive five required days for a district if making up the instruction would keep schools in session past June 4.
The House approved the bill Friday morning by a vote of 82-7. Earlier this week, floods swept over all of Kentucky’s 120 counties and snow and cold temperatures soon followed. Gov. Andy Beshear has said 15 people have died from the weather in recent days.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Timmy Truett, R-McKee, said Fletcher told him that as of Friday morning, 64 of the state’s 171 public school districts had used their 10 allotted non-traditional instruction (NTI) days. Another 40 districts have one NTI day remaining.
Truett, an elementary school principal, had previously acknowledged in a House committee that virtual learning is “not as good as in-seat instruction,” but argued “it does beat the alternative.”
“We’re trying to make a bad situation as good as possible,” Truett said on the House floor.
During NTI days, students participate in virtual learning at home. Even before the most recent flooding, some schools had used NTI days for bad winter weather or sickness. Kentucky law requires school districts to provide 170 student attendance days and offer a minimum of 1,062 instructional hours.
Other avenues for school districts in the House bill include districts lengthening school days. Local school boards may also revise their calendars and submit plans to the Kentucky Department of Education for approval.
Rep. Tina Bojanowski, an elementary school teacher and Democrat from Louisville, voted for the bill.
“I’m going to tell you, the most important thing we can do is have children in the building, in their seats, in classrooms, and there is no exception for that, nothing virtual, nothing at home,” she said.
Among Republicans voting against the bill, Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, said the measure was “extraordinarily well-intended,” but he had “concerns about the level of discretion being given on this issue.”
Rep. Felicia Rabourn, R-Turners Station, filed House Bill 737 which would eliminate NTI days. She voted against Truett’s bill Friday.
House Bill 241 now goes to the Senate for further consideration.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.