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Lawmakers approve bill to let students repeat a year of school

By Karen Mansfield newsroom@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

Lawmakers made a final vote last week to approve a bill to let parents decide whether to have their children repeat a year of school, a measure designed to help children catch up after the 2020-21 school year was disrupted by the pandemic.

The Senate voted 50-0 for the proposal, which also would permit students in special education to return for another year, even if they have reached the maximum age of 21.

Gov. Tom Wolf has not taken a stand for or against the bill, although his office said last week there are concerns about about how it might affect schools’ finances, staffing and programming.

“We will review the bill when it gets to the desk,” said Wolf press secretary Lyndsay Kensinger.

Under the bill, parents would have to decide by July 15 whether their child should repeat a grade. Students would be able to participate in extracurricular activities but they would not get another year of eligibility to play sports if they have already maxed out.

Students who have reached age 18 would be able to make their own decision about whether to repeat a year.

“Some students have struggled, and it makes sense to give parents a stronger say in whether their child should advance to the next grade level or repeat a grade to make up for learning loss,” said the sponsor, Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre.

Administrators in a handful of local school districts said no parents have approached them about having their children repeat a grade.

Dr. Kevin Monaghan, superintendent of Central Greene School District in Greene County, said the school district, like others throughout Greene, Washington, and Fayette counties, are operating educational summer programs aimed at addressing COVID-19-related learning loss.

School districts across the state received $5 billion in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money, with $1.15 billion of that earmarked for learning loss.

“Honestly, we have not heard of any parents who wanted to take advantage of (the bill),” said Monaghan. “We have summer programs underway that we are providing to help (students) get up to speed. We’ve had a great response so far, and we’ve recommended it for students even if they don’t necessarily need them but wanted to take advantage of the classes as a refresher.”

Monaghan said he believes students in elementary school or in special education programs would be the most likely to repeat a grade in the upcoming school year.

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