Children in Kentucky may have to repeat repeat kindergarten if the school decides they're not ready to move on.

That's the gist of a bill gaining traction in the Kentucky general Assembly.

That idea is detailed in House Bill 248 that was approved by an education panel this morning.

One of the bill's sponsors, state representative and school principal Tami Druitt, says getting it right in kindergarten is vital to a child's to a child's future.

Our Mackenzie Spink has more.

I've seen hundreds, hundreds of kindergartners who had to retain in kindergarten for a second year.

And in that second year all of a sudden something clicks.

And now that student is ready to learn.

Kindergarten is the first building block in a child's education.

But that doesn't mean it's an easy way.

Representative Tammy True.

It says that when parents get the news that their child has not made adequate progress in kindergarten, kids are often being advanced to the first grade before they're ready.

And what's happening?

I know this firsthand because I talk to principals daily.

What's happening is they're sending kids on from kindergarten to first grade who are not ready, who are not even at the kindergarten level, but they're moving them on to first grade because their parents want them to.

They want their kid to stay back or they want their kid out of their hair as quick as possible.

I've had I've had many parents tell me that.

Data from the Kentucky Department of Education reflects the kindergarten readiness issue.

The 2023 Kentucky school report card showed only 40% of students in all districts are considered kindergarten ready.

Representative Scott Lewis, who serves as chair for the House Committee on Primary and Secondary Education, says that boosting those early education numbers will improve students success down the line.

I hope you in the audience understand that with some of the things we're doing today, it's focusing on K-3, and that's where we have to start.

If we can get more kids reading, they're going to do well later on.

We're not going to have to worry about that.

But we need to spend our time and energy in K-3 doing every possible thing we can do to get those kids to read.

Those things will fall in place.

One of the concerns brought up during discussion was ensuring that teachers would be at the center of the decision making process when it comes to making a child repeat kindergarten.

This does not in any way undermine the professional judgment of the teacher who, if they have seen a child, make significant growth in a year.

Because any any child can take a have a screener done on a day when it's just a bad day.

But all the other data supports that they have mastered the skills.

If a student, you know, ends up having a bad day and that universal screener is, you know, is lower than it should be, but that teacher thinks that they are ready to move on.

There's a there's enough wiggle room in there which words where it would happen.

The word that teacher and that school could decide, hey, we're going to move this kid on.

Apart from improving test scores, Representative Lisa Wilner said this measure could also improve a student's self-esteem.

The sense of belonging is so important to student success.

And if a kid is not successful in kindergarten, they don't know how you know, they don't have those skills and then we just keep moving them through.

They're absorbing.

This notion of school isn't for me.

I don't belong here.

This is not where I need to be.

And I. I think this could go a long way to changing some of that for a lot of kids.

And I think the beauty of doing this not just in your school, but trying it statewide, is to reduce that stigma.

This is just what we do.

And it's not a negative thing.

It's not a punitive thing.

It's just you're going to be more successful in the long run, happier in the long run.

A student could not be made to repeat kindergarten indefinitely under this bill if a child turns seven by the August 1st deadline.

This measure would not apply to them and they could move on to first grade.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm McKenzie.

Spink.

Thank you.

MCKENZIE It's also worth noting that if a student has an IEP or individualized education program because of a disability, this bill would not apply to that child.