Education bills eliminating KY school mask mandate advance committees

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – On day two of the special session, a bill that would eliminate a statewide mask mandate for K-12 schools failed in a House committee Wednesday morning, only to be passed late in the afternoon.

In the senate, a section of Senate Bill 1 that would allow districts to incentivize staff and students to get the vaccine is now deleted.

Chairman of the committee Senator Max Wise, (R) Campbellsville, said it’s not necessary because that’s already being done.

While the bill has had bi-partisan support, a major issue for democratic lawmakers is the elimination of the universal mask mandate in schools.

“You have 32 school districts, as of today that are closed from COVID,” Senator Reginald Thomas, (D) Lexington, said. “32 of 171 school districts are closed because of COVID.”

Thomas said if masks are not required in school, it’s likely more teachers will come down with the virus and he said it’s not fair to require teachers to use their personal vacation time if they get COVID.

“You’re going to put them at risk, you should at least pay for their time off,” Thomas said.

Wise says it’s about local control and allowing school boards to do what they think is best.

“Nothing in the committee sub, nothing in the bill is prohibiting a local school district from still promoting vaccinations,” Wise said.

Over in the house, Representative Jeffrey Donohue, (D) Fairdale, said they shouldn’t put that kind of stress on local school boards because he said the often fall victim to community pressure when making decisions.

“A lot of times confrontation is a tool, so a lot of times they go to these school boards and they have this confrontation and that’s awfully tough,” Donohue said.

Some lawmakers also take issue with the bill’s revised requirements for substitute teachers, which allows them to have less college education than normal. However, they ultimately said it’s a temporary solution.

Lawmakers in the house also said they want hybrid learning to be an option.