A Senate committee on education agreed to a committee substitute for Senate Bill 275 on voice votes and voted to report the bill to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.

The substitute would exempt applicants age 21 and older from the high school diploma or GED requirement for certain positions employed by a county board of education. "This is a, simple bill to addition of employment by County Board of Education," said Hank, committee counsel.

Senators asked whether the bill would affect competency requirements for positions that involve food handling, custodial safety tasks or other duties that may require specific skills. The senator from Randolph said she wanted to ensure “if they don't have a high school diploma or GED, that there's some sort of competency test to ensure that they can perform the duties of their job safely.” Counsel replied that the language as drafted would exempt anyone 21 and older from the diploma requirement and that an 18-year-old with a diploma could still take the position.

The committee first agreed to the committee substitute by voice vote; the chair declared the substitute adopted. The vice chair then moved that the committee report the substitute to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass; the chair again called the voice vote and declared the motion adopted.

No roll-call vote totals were recorded in the transcript; actions in committee were resolved by voice vote. The transcript includes no statutory citations or fiscal note details related to changes in certification or credentialing requirements.

If taken up by the full Senate, the bill would change the diploma requirement for certain county board positions for applicants 21 and older; the transcript does not list specific job titles beyond "positions" within county board of education service categories, nor does it provide implementation dates or funding information.