A06782
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2788
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY TOPPER, REESE, BOROWICZ, COX, SCHLEGEL CULVER,
DAVANZO, DOWLING, DRISCOLL, DUSH, ECKER, EVERETT, GABLER,
GLEIM, GREGORY, GROVE, HEFFLEY, HILL-EVANS, JOZWIAK,
KAUFFMAN, KEEFER, KLUNK, KNOWLES, MARSHALL, MILLARD,
MIZGORSKI, OBERLANDER, PEIFER, POLINCHOCK, SANKEY, SAYLOR,
SCHMITT, THOMAS, WARNER, LONGIETTI AND SAINATO,
AUGUST 18, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, AUGUST 18, 2020
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in pupils and attendance, providing
for age limit extension during COVID-19 pandemic of 2020;
and, in terms and courses of study, providing for option year
of education due to COVID-19.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section sections to read:
Section 1301.1. Age Limit Extension During COVID-19 Pandemic
of 2020.--Notwithstanding section 1301, every student who was
twenty (20) or twenty-one (21) years of age before the
proclamation of disaster emergency issued by the Governor on
March 6, 2020, published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), and
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
any renewal of the state of disaster emergency, and who was
enrolled in a school district of this Commonwealth, in
accordance with section 1301, during the proclamation of
disaster emergency, or any renewal of the state of disaster
emergency, shall be eligible for a twelve-month extension of
eligibility under section 1301 free of charge.
Section 1501.11. Option Year of Education Due to COVID-19.--
(a) The welfare of this Commonwealth requires that the present
generation of school age children be provided ample opportunity
to develop to their fullest intellectual capacities. It is the
intent of the General Assembly to ensure that the present
generation of school age children do not lose educational
opportunities due to the proclamation of disaster emergency
issued by the Governor on March 6, 2020, published at 50 Pa.B.
1644 (March 21, 2020).
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the
2021-2022 school year, a parent may elect to have a child in a
school entity repeat a grade level to make up for any lost
educational opportunities during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021
school years regardless of whether the child met the
requirements to be promoted to the next grade level. The
parental election under this subsection shall include
participation in all academic or extracurricular activities.
(c) A school entity shall create a process for a parent to
make the election under subsection (b) and post the process on
its publicly accessible Internet website.
(d) As used in this section, the term "school entity" shall
mean a school district, intermediate unit, area career and
technical school, charter school, cyber charter school, regional
charter school or nonpublic school entity.
A06782 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
A06782 - 3 -
1