Representative Tim Truett introduced House Bill 241 as a temporary fix. It would allow Kentucky school districts to revise their 24-25 calendars to satisfy the required number of hours, 1062, rather than the required number of days, 170. It would also allow schools to extend instructional hours of NTI days to meet the hour requirement.
"[An] NTI day is not as good as them being in my seats," said Truett, who is also the principal of a Jackson County elementary school, "But it sure beats the fact that I don't get to see them at all. If I get to do some Zoom meetings with them, some virtual meetings, some virtual instruction, I get to check on them. I get to see them. I get to see if they've been fed. I get to make sure that everything is okay."
HB 241 also includes a provision which allows the education commissioner to grant up to five calamity days if schools can’t complete in-person instruction by June 4.
"So, on June 4th, if you can get your time in, the commissioner can grant you five calamity days that you could have used for an active shooter event that you were off school in September. An ice storm that you were out of school in December. A flood that you were out of school in, you know, February.”
HB 241, would apply to the 2024-2025 school year, going into effect immediately. It was approved by the House Standing Committee on Primary and Secondary Education and moves onto the House.