Latest news with #TimmyTruett
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill giving schools time to make up for lost days gets approval despite changes: Here's what lawmakers added
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — Thursday marked an action-packed Kentucky Senate session when a bill that started the day as one thing ended up as something different. Approved by the Senate Education Committee in late February, House Bill 241 would allow districts to extend the school day to avoid going to class into June as a result of snow, flooding, and other unforeseen issues. Ahead of the voting session on Thursday morning, Republican lawmakers reportedly added an unrelated measure that would keep a new online school in Western Kentucky open, leaving one of the bill's original sponsors, Rep. Timmy Truett—an elementary school principal in Jackson County—to fight against his legislature. Bill lowering the age to carry a concealed weapon in Kentucky moves forward Kentucky bill to increase toughness on repeated protection order violators advances in senate Bill giving schools time to make up for lost days gets approval despite changes: Here's what lawmakers added 'This bill started off as a really good bill, but I'm principled enough to know. If I think this is going to go on my bill, that it's going to harm public education; it's going to harm my students. I will speak against my own bill and try my best to kill it.' Despite its last-minute amendment, HB 241 passed the full senate on Thursday afternoon. Next, it will be sent back to the House, which has to approve the changes. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kentucky legislator wants to kill bill protecting controversial virtual school
A bill intended to address lost instructional time from school closures has been amended to keep a virtual school from closing — prompting the bill's sponsor to say he'd "try my best to kill it." House Bill 241, sponsored by Republican Rep. Timmy Truett, would let the state's education commissioner grant up to five "disaster relief" days during which schools could provide alternative instruction when a district closes "for health or safety reasons." It would also let districts extend student attendance days to meet the legally required minimum instruction hours. At a Senate Education Committee meeting Thursday, Truett, an elementary school principal, said his bill "started off as a really good bill" and attaching the virtual school legislation would "harm public education. It's going to harm my students." HB 241 passed out of the House last month with a 82-7 vote. It was assigned to the Senate Education Committee, which initially voted in favor of the bill. However, the bill was returned to the committee on Wednesday, where it was combined with a Senate measure aimed at protecting the Kentucky Virtual Academy. Senate Bill 268 proposed prohibiting a cap on enrollment for all virtual programs for the next three years. It was filed in response to the Kentucky Department of Education's efforts to limit enrollment at the Kentucky Virtual Academy, which has repeatedly failed to meet staff and testing requirements. The school, which opened in 2023 through a partnership with Cloverport Independent Schools and Stride, Inc., has experienced rapid growth in its enrollment, drawing thousands of students from across the state. The Senate Education Committee met a day after The Courier Journal published an article on the school, stating the company running the program has been accused of mismanaging funds and failing students in various ways over the past 15 years. SB 268 had passed unanimously out of the Senate Education Committee but had yet to be considered for a full floor vote. Republican Sen. Steve West, chairman of the committee, told The Courier Journal there were concerns the bill wouldn't get "as nice of a reception in the House once it went over," and Truett's bill as written didn't have enough support to succeed on its own. He added it's common for bills to blend together so they can pass both chambers before a veto period begins. "The reason for that is it's a negotiation process," West said. "It's a compromise process between the House and the Senate. They want what they want. We want what we want, and ... negotiating is what makes it across the finish line." Truett took issue with the decision to combine the bills, saying he would speak against his own legislation. HB 241, on its own, "helps just about every district in the state of Kentucky, especially those districts in Eastern Kentucky that are struggling with the extreme weather and the flooding and all of that," Truett told The Courier Journal. "So it's a great bill. But the way politics works, sometimes you get surprised, and there was a amendment thrown on the bill that goes against some of the things that I believe in and that I disagree with." Truett clarified that while he isn't against the Kentucky Virtual Academy, he is concerned the Senate measure wouldn't allow "any restrictions" to be put in place on the school until 2028. "The thing about it is I'm afraid that growing at the rate that they're growing and struggling like they are, (along) with the extra students enrolling, I'm afraid (the bill) be more harmful than helpful," Truett said. "So if we could put some guard rails up, I would support that." Truett added while he respects West and the education committee, no one reached out to him to ask whether it was OK to attach the Senate measure to his bill. West, meanwhile, said he did not "personally talk to Truett," but Truett knew that "this was happening." He also pointed out that the virtual academy has only been operating for about one year, and a group of lawmakers want to give it more time instead of shutting it down. "We understand there are issues there, and we understand those issues will need to be addressed and should be addressed, but our policy consideration was that they needed a little bit more time," West said during the committee meeting. "This is an innovative thing. With any experiment or innovative thing, you're going to make mistakes, and sometimes you don't get it right the first time, so it does take a little time." HB 241, with the committee substitute, passed out of the committee on an 8-2-1 vote. Republican Sen. Lindsey Tichenor said she voted no because the bill covers "two very different things." Democratic Sen. Reggie Thomas, who represented the other "no" vote, called the added Senate measure "a poison pill" and cited statistics on the company's performance from The Courier Journal article. "We should wipe off this amendment. This school should never be allowed to operate here in Kentucky," Thomas said. If the Senate passes the bill as amended, it will get sent back to the House for concurrence. The House can either vote to accept the Senate's changes and send the bill to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's desk, or it could vote not to concur and send the bill to a conference committee made up of members of both chambers. Reach reporter Hannah Pinski at hpinski@ or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @hannahpinski. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Legislator wants to kill bill protecting Kentucky Virtual Academy
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
One-time NTI alternative gets first approval by Kentucky lawmakers
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — As the weather forces more schools to make tough choices on whether to use their dwindling NTI days, Kentucky lawmakers are moving ahead on an alternative plan. Hopefully, we never have to see a bill like this ever again. But this is the only flexibility that we can give our districts at this point,' Rep. Timmy Truett (R-Mckee) told lawmakers on the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee. One-time NTI alternative gets first approval by Kentucky lawmakers Kentucky's congressional delegation unite behind Beshear in letter to Trump University of Kentucky Title IX lawsuit moves forward with some exceptions: What we know There are now more than 40 school districts around the state that have reached the maximum ten non-traditional instruction days for the school year. Truett's House Bill 241 would, only for this year, allow schools to swap to a variable calendar and extend the school day to reach the 1,062 instructional hours required by law. 'Same amount of time in the seats; the difference is you could spend more time each day and not have those 170 days of instruction,' Truett explained. Extending the school day is only one part of the bill. A new portion added to the committee would give the education commissioner flexibility to grant 5 'disaster relief student attendance days' for districts to provide instruction using alternative settings if any additional bad weather or other emergency occurs. Truett explained these bills would not apply retroactively but would be 'It's not going to everybody. It's only going to those districts that absolutely need them,' Truett said, arguing that this would be different than granting more NTI days, but that area of the bill was a bigger point of debate among fellow lawmakers. 'How did school districts handle those disasters when they didn't have these five days that could be waived?' Rep. Felicia Rabourn (R-Turners Station) asked. Truett responded, explaining that schools would extend longer into the summer, but recalled his experience as a teacher not being productive during that period. Lexington ranked 10th worst large city for football fans: WalletHub Kentucky receives failing grades in tobacco control report Kentucky ranks as 2025's worst state to retire in: WalletHub 'We were in school all the way up to June 24. And I will tell you that that was some of the worst instruction that I had ever seen,' he said. A third portion of the bill would also allow the commissioner to waive up to 5 school days entirely for a district if classes are still in session beyond June 4 and the district has already tried extending the school day to make up for time. 'In other words, we're not going to give you five days, unless you're trying to make those days up throughout the year,' Truett said. Latest central Kentucky weather forecast The bill won its first approval by lawmakers to now get a full vote on the House floor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Extending school days instead of the school year? Kentucky lawmaker pitches one-time solution to NTI cap
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — Weather has forced more school districts to chip away at a dwindling number of remaining NTI days. A Kentucky lawmaker is hoping to give school districts some flexibility to extend the school day to avoid having to extend the school year into June. 'Our districts, our superintendents—they know their districts the best. They know what works for them. They know what calendar would be the best. And it just allows them to be creative,' Rep. Timmy Truett (R-Mckee) told FOX 56 News. Kentucky man killed in weather-related crash The conversation continues; Kentucky leaders address children sleeping in government buildings Flood waters in Knox County cause major issues; how leaders are keeping the community safe As the only school principal in the General Assembly, Rep. Truett has a unique understanding of the challenge many Kentucky schools face with so few non-traditional instruction days remaining at this point in the school year. His district is among the 31 around the state that have already maxed them out, which means they could have to extend the calendar if more bad weather, sickness, or other circumstances spring up. 'Nobody wants to be testing in June, because at that point, people are done,' Truett said. 'You're fighting with attendance; you're fighting with family vacations. And it's very important that we try to get our kids in the seats with as much possible time as we can and also get them out so they can still enjoy their summer.' Truett has filed a bill, not to add more NTI days but to give schools the option to extend the school day itself instead of tacking another day on the calendar. 'What I've looked at, if you could add 30 minutes a day, you know, over a two-week period, you've picked up basically a day,' Truett said. Lexington ranked 10th worst large city for football fans: WalletHub Kentucky receives failing grades in tobacco control report Kentucky ranks as 2025's worst state to retire in: WalletHub Whether that means an earlier start or a later school day would essentially be up to the district to meet their own necessary number of required instruction hours the law demands. The bill also has a carve-out to allow the education commissioner to forgive up to 5 missed 'calamity' days, but only if that district has had to extend its calendar beyond June 4. 'They can be excused for those active shooter days that we had—flooding days, you know, ice days, any type of extreme weather days,' Truett said. Truett said there's a mix of love and hate for the proposal. If lawmakers take it up, it would only apply to this school year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
