Senate education committee approves HB 241 with three‑year sunset for Cloverport virtual academy, narrows disaster‑day mandate

At a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Education, members approved House Bill 241 as amended by a Senate committee substitute that includes a three‑year sunset for the Cloverport Virtual Academy and changes a requirement about granting disaster days into discretionary authority for the Commissioner of Education.

The bill was presented by Representative Truitt, who said the original measure was aimed at allowing school districts affected by floods to add instructional time to the school day so they would not have to extend the school year into June. "This bill started off as a really good bill for all the districts in the state of Kentucky," Representative Truitt told the committee, but he said an amendment he had not yet seen risked turning it into a bad bill.

The committee substitute preserves a pilot virtual program in Cloverport and places a sunset on that authority through 2028, a…