Representative Truett not Happy with Senate Provision on HB241

According to an email from State Representative Timmy Truett (District 89) was upset that the Senate attached a provision possibly saving Cloverport Virtual School to his HB241 that gives schools 5 disaster relief student attendance days due to safety concerns. At the time, Truett said he would try to kill the revised Bill.

The Kentucky House of Representatives turned down the Senate’s merger of a Bill on Tuesday.

Representative Truett says, “We voted to not concur. This means that we will have free conference with House and Senate members to try and work something out.”

House Bill 241 originally provided 5 calamity days that don’t need to be made up, adding time to the end of the school day in districts that have been ravaged by flooding and winter weather this year. 

Several districts missed significant time after severe flooding last month. 

The Senate Education Committee merged that bill with Senate Bill 268, which would bar the state from cutting funding or putting an enrollment cap on virtual schools for at least three years. 

Senate Bill 268 is sponsored by Sen. Aaron Reed, (District 7) and was previously approved by the Senate Education Committee. 

The Kentucky Board of Education had sought an enrollment cap as Cloverport Independent School District, which has about 250 students enrolled in in-person classes and about 2,800 enrolled in a new virtual academy, came under fire for issues including poor test scores, failing to administer state tests to enough students and failing to comply with state regulations on class sizes.

Cloverport’s online program, Kentucky Virtual Academy, has a contract with Stride, a for-profit company that has been scrutinized in other states. The district pays the company much of the funds it receives from the state. 

Kentucky Republican lawmakers have pushed for what they describe as school choice, which would allow for taxpayer funds to be used for programs other than public schools.