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House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	October 4, 2021 09:39 AM
From:	Representative Joe Webster
To:	All House members
Subject:	Temporarily Raising Maximum School Age Due to COVID-19

The signing of Act 66 of 2021 into law permitted students to repeat a year of school to essentially replace the pandemic school year of 2020-2021. This law included an exception for those who will officially “age out” of public education services by extending the age cap to 22 for the 2021-2022 school year. This exception was beneficial for many students whose education was affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including special education students.   However, a number of constituents and residents across the state have raised concerns that some students are not in a position to take advantage of the exception in the coming years as they were younger than 21 in the most recent year. These students may be reasonably harmed in the future by having their access to public education services curtailed by the age cap requirement of 21. For example, a special education student currently enrolled in a Career Technical Education (CTE) curriculum who has repeated a year due to COVID-19 may not be able to complete the program before aging out.   To account for this and other similar cases, my legislation would allow the Secretary of Education to have the authority to authorize exceptions to the age cap in public education programs for students who turn 21 through the 2035-2036 school year. To qualify, a student would have to have been enrolled consistently since the 2020-21 school year. This would provide the ability to address a wide range of prospective challenges, while also preserving a degree of oversight as to when and under what circumstances exceptions are granted.    Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation to provide a simple solution for students critically impacted by the pandemic.

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