Central Ky. school districts discuss whether they’re able to approve requests for do-over school year

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - This week, several school districts are discussing Senate Bill 128, the “do-over year.”

Parents and students were able to request to retake their classes for the school year during the pandemic for students who feel they aren’t prepared to move to the next grade level.

“Last year we talked to high school students across the state in our Coping with COVID survey and we heard that there was huge drops in motivation to complete assignments when they were at home,” Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence Director of Communications Jessica Fletcher said. “They felt like the meaning of school had changed, so this will give them an opportunity to sort of rebuild what was lost during that year.”

Hundreds of Kentucky students have requested to retake the year, 523 students in Fayette County, 289 students in Madison County, and 197 students in Scott County.

Now, those school districts are deciding whether they are equipped to handle all those requests or deny all of them.

“It’s really going to come down to how many requests each district gets,” Fletcher said. “Just based on does a district have the teachers that it will need to accommodate the requests, is it just going to be a handful of kids per grade or is it going to be hundreds of kids per grade?”

In a Fayette County Schools work session Monday night, officials said their numbers likely will not negatively impact staffing or capacity.

“For example, at one high school there were 12 seniors that would be exiting otherwise that asked to come back,” officials said in the meeting. “So, that wouldn’t really overall impact and all the other students would have been in the building anyway.”

But the final all or nothing decision is still up in the air.

Scott County Schools are set to vote this Wednesday. It’s on the agenda for Madison County Schools Tuesday. Fayette County is expecting a recommendation May 24. All districts must decide by June 1.

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