Turning to K through 12 education today, a committee advanced measures to roll back some requirements for teachers.

Our June Lefler has more about this.

Several lawmakers say they've received complaints about new guardrails on virtual communication between students and teachers.

Just a couple days ago, I received a phone call from one of my teachers at Henderson County High School, and she was really upset because they were light coming back from a field trip.

She had 60 students on a field trip, and the bus location pickup was in a different area.

Couldn't find some students.

She she just wish she could have called them and said, you know me at this particular location, the location change.

Instead, she couldn't our felt like she couldn't.

This Henderson lawmaker and educator proposes a fix house bill 67.

So this bill clarifies that in that situation, she most certainly, most certainly could.

Last year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 181 to prevent inappropriate private chats between teachers and students.

Senator Lindsey sponsored that bill last year alongside a mom who found out a teacher was discussing emancipation options with their daughter.

Tish Nair also filed a clean up bill this year in the Senate to ease some of those guardrails.

So I want to clarify real quick.

So I'm youth youth director at my church, youth leader.

So this bill will now allow me to contact my kiddos outside the school setting, you know, talking about a church event or a youth youth event.

I'm allowed to do that now without filing something at their schools.

Is that correct?

Correct.

As long as you disclose that as the employee, you say, I'm a youth pastor at such and such church.

Then yes, that would would allow you to have those communications.

The House Primary and Secondary Education Committee passed this bill along with others.

House Bill 759 aligns requirements for what are known as options to becoming a teacher.

These are for people who may have a college degree but do not have a teaching degree yet.

The main thing that this bill does is create consistency among each of those options.

And says the content expertise is bachelor's major or minor.

Our graduate content degree.

This former educator proposes House Bill 685.

It would welcome teachers back that have left the profession before retirement.

And we have a lot of of teachers in the state of Kentucky that ofttimes get out of the profession for various reasons.

They may get out to raise a family.

They may get out to try another profession.

Maybe they've got burned out and then they, either have the opportunity or the realization they want to go back into the profession.

And right now, they are required to complete six hours of graduate coursework.

And this bill would allow a one time exception and waiver of the six hour requirement.

If a superintendent request that the candidate sort of short of a certificate, be renewed.

Measures advanced out of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee Wednesday.

These bills now head to the House floor.

For Kentucky edition I'm Jim Leffler.