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.

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.

“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.

The bill won its first approval by lawmakers to now get a full vote on the House floor.