GOP Rep. Timmy Truett is the principal at McKee Elementary School, where he says it’s kindergarten test scores — not 3rd grade scores — that he pays attention to. Truett said that essential foundation is indicative of how well a student will do in school for years to come.

Truett says moving unprepared kids forward leads them to fall further behind. That’s why he’s proposing House Bill 240. The measures would require kindergartners on a reading improvement plan to be held back a year if they don’t meet state standards.

“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,” Truett said. “They don't want their kid to stay back.”

The bill, which unanimously passed a committee vote Wednesday, would leave the final decision in the hands of teachers and schools, giving them the “wiggle room” to make the final call on individual students, Truett said.

Students may be held back if schools determine the child is not prepared to be successful in first grade, if they don’t meet benchmarks on the universal screener, or they don’t meet reading academic standards. The requirement won’t apply to students who are eligible for special education services or to a student who turns 7-years-old by August 1.

Democrats and Republicans alike applauded the bill, saying the state needs to take action to address poor reading and math scores among students. Only 48% of Kentucky children were kindergarten ready in the 2023-24 school year, according to Kids Count data.

Louisville Democrat and special education teacher Rep. Tina Bojanowski said research shows children require a strong foundation in early education if they are to progress in school and stay up to, or exceed, their grade level.

“In this state, every child does not have the opportunity to participate in high quality early child education,” Bojanowski said. “So rather than just saying, ‘Okay, well, you just move on,’ we can reiterate and reinforce those foundational skills at the kindergarten level.”

Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear, have called for universal pre-K for years, with little appetite from the Republican supermajority. Truett said he also supports expanding access to early childhood education, especially for low-income families.

“This is kind of maybe a band-aid on it,” Truett said. “It doesn't solve the problem, but it does soften it a little bit. If you've got a kid who's not ready… It's a small way of trying to fill that void.”

Several states already have “retention” laws on the books. Those laws require students to be held back if they can’t meet certain standards. Several states have recently considered or passed 3rd grade retention laws, including neighboring Tennessee.

Republican Rep. James Tipton from Taylorsville said he had previously tried to put in place such legislation in Kentucky, but said he likes “this approach better.”

“I know it's maybe heartburn for some parents, but I've got a new catch phrase now: Students deserve no less,” Tipton said. “I thank our students across Kentucky. We can't just move them on and hope to catch up. We have to be responsible. We have to be accountable for our children and our schools.”

Truett hopes the bill will encourage schools to pay more attention to kindergarten readiness and testing. He said focusing on student achievement from the start is a “game changer.” He said that a child who may have been behind in kindergarten the first time can improve leaps and bounds with an extra year of instruction.

“If you've got a kid that's grade-level ready in kindergarten, they're going to continue to be that,” Truett said. “But if you got a kid that's below grade level in kindergarten, and you move them on, that gap gets larger and larger and larger.”

State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.