A Senate committee voted to report Senate Bill 122 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass after a brief discussion of the bill's purpose and which counties would be affected.

Committee counsel said the bill "establishes the minimum net enrollment of cannot be penalized for failure to meet the minimum ratio of professional instructional personnel per state aid funded professional educators to the extent that the failure is due to an increase to net enrollment to the 1,200 and requires that any increase in net enrollment that is due to a county board sending students to a jointly established school in another county be added to net to the net enrollment, after the 1200 minimum net enrollment is established." (Transcript text as read aloud by counsel.)

Senators asked whether the bill would affect counties with an existing 1,400 cap; counsel replied it would not and said the change "just says that no county can go below the 1,200." The counsel identified three counties that would receive additional funding under the proposal as Calhoun, Gilmer and Wirt. The chair commented that small counties are wearing multiple administrative hats and are making cuts where necessary.

The vice chair moved that the bill be reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it pass but first be referred to the committee on finance under the original double committee reference; the motion carried by voice vote and the chair declared the motion adopted. The transcript contains no roll-call tallies or fiscal-note figures.

If enacted, the bill's net-enrollment floor would affect state aid calculations for staffing ratios; the transcript does not provide the fiscal note or the precise mechanism for updating allotments beyond the text counsel read to the committee.