Bill goes forward giving districts 5 calamity days because of bad weather due in part to State Rep Tim Truett

A legislative committee approved a Bill that would allow for five days of relief from the required time students must be in class, the recent snow storms and flooding helped prove the point.

State Representative Timmy Truett, (R-89th District), who sponsored HB 241 said that he had a lot of districts reach out for some extra help. He is all too familiar for the weather conditions afffecting school openings and closures since he is an educator himself in Jackson County.

The Legislation was approved by the House Standing Committee on Primary and Secondary Education Wednesday in a 13-2 vote. Now, goes to the full House of Representatives for consideration. 

Under state law, Kentucky schools must have 170 days or 1,062 hours of instruction. Also, the law allows ten days of non-traditional or learning from home instruction. That usually includes virtual instruction or teachers sending home paper packets of assignments.

As of Tuesday, 40 of Kentucky’s 171 school districts had used all of the 10 non-traditional instruction allowed under state law, according to Truett.

Multiple days of rain last week, followed by constant heavy rain Saturday and Sunday resulted in flooding in most of Eastern Kentucky on Sunday and Monday, causing schools to close in many districts. 

A snow storm impacted many schools on Wednesday. Additionally, winter weather in January closed many school districts, as did episodes of student and staff sickness. Some districts canceled classes as police searched for a suspect in an interstate shooting.

Under House Bill 241, for the 2024-2025 school year only, the Kentucky’s Commissioner of Education can grant five disaster relief or calamity days to school districts to provide instruction in alternate settings when the school districts are closed for health or safety reasons. With floods and snow “we have districts, we have schools, that are going to be closed for weeks. In some instances maybe a month,” Truett said. Truett said NTI days, or virtual instruction, is not as preferable as in-person instruction, but it beats the alternative of closing schools altogether.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher for had also been asking lawmakers for five additional NTI days to make up for the days Kentucky students have missed.

State Rep. Felicia Rabourn, (R-47th District), casted a “no” vote against Truett’s Bill and has filed House Bill 737 which would eliminate NTI days that she strongly opposes.

Under the Bill, if a school district is unable to provide the required 1,062 instructional hours by June 4, the Commissioner of Education can waive up to five instructional days. Any school districts getting that waiver would have had to first make up days by adding time to each school day according to the Bill.

State Representative Tim Truett represents the 89th District of the Commonwealth of Kentucky that consists of Jackson County, Part of Laurel County, Lee County, Part of Madison County, and Wolfe County.


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