By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
The Kentucky House bill that seeks to alleviate schools’ multi-day closure is unlikely to make it to the governor’s desk due to a Senate overhaul during Thursday’s proceedings.
As previously reported, the bipartisan House Bill 241 originally allowed school districts to meet its required 170 student attendance days by allowing the lengthening of each school day and five “disaster relief student attendance days.” On Feb. 21 it passed the House by a vote of 82-7 and was received in the Senate the next day.
A 15-page committee substitution removed the enrollment cap on Kentucky virtual schools. According to the Kentucky Lantern, Republican Representative Timmy Truett, who is listed as an HB 241 sponsor, would advise the House to kill the bill due to the committee substitution.
The bill, in this new form, passed the Kentucky Senate on March 6 by a 23-14 vote. It will now head back to the House for approval before going to the governor’s desk.
On Aug. 9, 2023, the Kentucky Virtual Academy became the first all virtual school in Kentucky, and, according to outside reporting, has seen “rapidly increasing” enrollment numbers over the past two years. In Barren County, and throughout the commonwealth, students can also enroll in the Barren Academy of Virtual and Expanded Learning, or BAVEL, school.
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