Kentucky Senate Passes Bill Allowing Students A ‘Do-Over’ Year

The Kentucky Senate has voted to allow students a repeat year due to the pandemic.

The Spun reports the bill, which was approved 36-0, allows all students to have the extra year. A provision within the bill also includes an additional year of eligibility for athletes.

Kentucky Senate passes Bill 36-0 allowing High School Seniors to stay for another year of school and play sports

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) March 2, 2021

Senate Bill 128, sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, allows students to stay in school an extra year after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted academics, athletics and high school milestones, the Courier Journal reports.

The NCAA announced the 2020-21 school year will not count towards an athlete’s eligibility for college-level athletics, but it was unclear how that will affect high school students moving forward.

It would offer student-athletes a fifth year of eligibility, giving players a second chance in front of recruiters and allowing seniors to have a “normal” final season, the Courier Journal reports.

A previous version of the bill allowed only high school students to repeat a year, but a new version expanded that to kindergarten and up.