CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Senate gave its unanimous approval here Friday to legislation that calls for more than $3 million to finance new state programs to combat the high school dropout problem.

The Senate vote came after HB4593 was amended to remove the House of Delegates' attempt to raise the minimum age that students can legally drop out of school from 16 to 17. Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, made the motion in the House Finance Committee to change the language in the House bill to revert back to the present legal minimum age of 16.

The bill now goes back to the House where several members of the House Education Committee predicted that body will agree with the one Senate change and send the bill to the governor before the regular 60-day legislative session adjourns at midnight Saturday.

"This will keep some of the valuable new programs that we hope will encourage more students to remain in school," said Delegate Josh Stowers, D-Lincoln, chairman of the House Education subcommittee that drafted the bill.

Delegate Kevin Craig, D-Cabell, said late Friday he plans to "support this legislation and our efforts to lower the dropout rate in our educational system. I am disappointed that our efforts to raise the dropout age from 16 to 17 failed, but believe we have made significant progress in other areas that will encourage students to stay in school."

The bill, entitled the High School Graduation Improvement Act, calls for new alternative education programs for potential dropouts, creation of up to five additional juvenile drug courts in the state and improvements in the way career-technical education is offered in high school.

The estimated cost, according to a fiscal note from the state Department of Education, would be $3.6 million the first year and $2.1 million each year thereafter. This includes an increase in the allowance per student for alternative education from $12 to $18 per student in net enrollment and $500,000 for the new drug courts.

Friday's Senate vote came after earlier speculation that the Senate leadership might decide instead to kill the bill and instead adopt a resolution to conduct an interim legislative study of the issue between now and the 2011 legislative session.

"I would have been very disappointed if the Senate had not stepped forward and passed this bill," said House Education Chair Mary Poling, D-Barbour.

Senate Education Chairman Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, said Friday he was confident the Senate would agree to pass the bill once the Senate Finance Committee voted to amend the House version to lower the age from 17 back to 16.

Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, who had introduced a separate bill this session to raise the age from 16 to 18 said Friday that he had hoped the mandatory attendance age would be raised but that he, too, was willing to support the bill.

National Video