The Senate Education Committee approved Senate Bill 284 with amendments to be sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Some amendments to the bill include allowing students enrolled in home schooling or private instututions to be permitted into the grant program along with students in public West Virginia schools.
Senator Michael Romano (D – Harrison) spoke to the committee about lowering the required age to 18 years old or who hold a high school diploma or the equivalent of.
High school student Elizabeth Ours spoke to the committee about the importance of agriculture classes in high schools. Ours proposed to the committee that high schools should offer agriculture classes as an option for a science course instead of just an elective.
Senator Robert Beach (D – Monongalia) referenced House Bill 2855 – The Robert C. Beach Vocational Agriculture Credit – from 1999 that gave counties the option to allow for two semesters of agriculture classes to be made into one science credit. The committee adopted a study Resolution to look into the matter further to see if the code has been required and how to enable it any further.
