Ky. Gov. Beshear signs ‘redo’ bill allowing students to retake current school year

KENTUCKY (WFIE) - Kentucky public school students in grades K-12 now have a chance to repeat their current grade level under a new bill signed by Governor Andy Beshear.

State Senate Bill 128, commonly known as the “redo” bill, allows parents of these students to request to use the next academic school year to retake or supplement completed courses and grades.

This not only applies to academics, but also athletics.

Although Gov. Beshear backs the measure, the final say will come from individual school districts and their board members.

14 News visited Owensboro on Wednesday afternoon and caught up with OPS Superintendent Dr. Matthew Constant.

”We routinely, and have for years, talked to families individually about the best decisions to make in terms of the academic future of their children,” Constant said. “So, even if we took COVID-19 out of the mix here, if students were struggling academically, we sat down with the family and decided that an extra year was in order.”

The “redo” bill is sponsored by Sen. Max Wise.

As we continue to hear about local competitions being canceled because of the virus, the bill also gives high school senior athletes a fifth year of eligibility as long as they do not turn 19 years old by August 1.

As for Owensboro Public Schools specifically, Dr. Constant says the board will be breaking down the bill in the coming weeks. He added input for parents, every request will need to be in hand by May 1. Those will be reviewed, with a decision made by June 1.

The Daviess County School Board met to discuss their upcoming plans in regard to the newly signed bill on Thursday.

Board members had the item on the agenda, and discussed the pros and cons of what this would mean for students. They now want to get all the information on the “redo” bill out to parents and guardians, so they can make the best decision for their children.

Gov. Beshear also vetoed a pair of bills, which he says were “anti-education.”

The first vetoed bill was House Bill 258, which is related to the teachers’ retirement system. Beshear said the bill would cut retirement benefits for new teachers, making it more difficult to attract young teachers to the commonwealth.

House Bill 563, otherwise better known as the School Choice Bill, would have allowed for scholarship funds created via a tax credit to allow students to attend the public or private school of their choice, even if the school wasn’t local.

Beshear said the bill would greatly harm public education by taking funds away from public schools.

The state legislature has the option of overriding either veto with enough votes.

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