FRANKFORT, Ky. — One of the loudest debates during the COVID-19 pandemic has been over whether or not students should be learning in-person.
What You Need To Know
- Kentucky Senate passed House Bill 208 Wednesday, a bill requiring schools to have a plan to resume in-person learning
- The bill requires schools to be open for in-person learning at least four days a week— offering at least two days of in-person learning to each student
- The commissioner of education would have to sign off on each district’s plan
- The bill already passed in the House, but because there were some tweaks made in the Senate, it has to go back to the House for approval
The Kentucky Senate passed House Bill 208 Wednesday, a bill requiring schools to have a plan to resume in-person learning.
The bill requires schools to be open for in-person learning at least four days a week— offering at least two days of in-person learning to each student— like the hybrid model some schools have already been using.
The commissioner of education would have to sign off on each district’s plan.
Rep. Regina Huff (R-Williamsburg) sponsors the bill
“I’ve had emails from some in Jefferson County say, ‘I know that we weren’t going to get anything if you hadn’t done this.’ I appreciate it,” Huff said. “I’ve also had some that say I’m putting them in a dangerous, ventless room, so you just have to weigh the options and do the best you can for the students of the Commonwealth, and that’s what I tried to do.”
Debates in committee and on the floor Wednesday focused heavily on Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), which stuck with mostly virtual learning.
Some Republicans took issue with how the district handled the pandemic.
“These long-term impacts are going to be through the roof,” said Sen. Stephen West (R-Paris). “We’re going to be building prisons to take care of this achievement gap.”
A few Democrats voted for the bill on the floor, although they worried about taking away power from school boards.
“I do not want this to be a trend of this legislature where we are coming in and overruling the local school board decisions,” said Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey (D-Louisville). “Because they are the group that is closest to those kids on so many issues.”
Other democrats think the bill goes too far.
“We can’t talk about how much we believe in local control and vote to support this bill,” said Sen. Reggie Thomas (D-Lexington). “That is hypocritical.”
Some Republicans believe it doesn’t go far enough.
“At a certain point, when it comes to our constitutional rights of education for every child, we can’t sit here and say, ‘oh, it’s inconvenient,’” said Sen. Adrienne Southworth (R-Lawrenceburg). “I don’t care how convenient it is, we have to make it happen. That’s our job as a state policy-making body, and that’s what I’m going to stand for every time.”
The bill already passed in the House, but because there were some tweaks made in the Senate, it has to go back to the House for approval before heading to the governor.
According to the Kentucky School Boards Association, at least 129 of the state’s 171 districts have plans to resume in-person learning for four or five days a week by March 29, with more districts expected to announce reopening plans this week.
Jefferson County Public Schools released a plan to resume in-person learning last week.