Senate File 17SENATE FILE BY McKINLEY Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays Approved A BILL FOR 1 An Act relating to the minimum hours of instructional school time 2 in a school day that a school district, charter school, and 3 accredited nonpublic school must provide for grades one 4 through twelve and including an effective date and 5 applicability provision. 6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 7 TLSB 1594XS 82 8 kh/je/5 PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 19, unnumbered 1 2 paragraph 1, Code 2007, is amended to read as follows: 1 3 Define the minimum school day as a day consisting of five 1 4 and one=halfseven hours of instructional time for grades one 1 5 through twelve. The minimum hours shall be exclusive of the 1 6 lunch period, but may include passing time between classes. 1 7 Time spent on parent=teacher conferences shall be considered 1 8 instructional time. A school or school district may record a 1 9 day of school with less than the minimum instructional hours 1 10 as a minimum school day if any of the following apply: 1 11 Sec. 2. Section 256.7, subsection 19, paragraph b, Code 1 12 2007, is amended to read as follows: 1 13 b. If the total hours of instructional school time for 1 14 grades one through twelve for any five consecutive school days 1 15 equal a minimum oftwenty=seven and one=halfthirty=five 1 16 hours, even though any one day of school is less than the 1 17 minimum instructional hours because of a staff development 1 18 opportunity provided for the professional instructional staff 1 19 or because parent=teacher conferences have been scheduled 1 20 beyond the regular school day. Furthermore, if the total 1 21 hours of instructional time for the first four consecutive 1 22 days equal at leasttwenty=seven and one=halfthirty=five 1 23 hours because parent=teacher conferences have been scheduled 1 24 beyond the regular school day, a school or school district may 1 25 record zero hours of instructional time on the fifth 1 26 consecutive school day as a minimum school day. 1 27 Sec. 3. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 1 28 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 1 29 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 1 30 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 1 31 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 1 32 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 1 33 to meet all the state funding=related requirements of section 1 34 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be 1 35 necessary for the full implementation of this Act by and 2 1 enforcement of this Act against all affected school districts. 2 2 Sec. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY. This Act takes 2 3 effect July 1, 2009, and applies to school years beginning on 2 4 or after that date. 2 5 EXPLANATION 2 6 This bill increases the hours in the minimum school day 2 7 from five and one=half hours to seven hours, or from 27.5 2 8 hours per week to 35 hours per week. 2 9 This bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 2 10 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of any 2 11 state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 2 12 district from state school foundation aid received by the 2 13 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 2 14 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state 2 15 mandate funding=related requirements of Code section 25B.2. 2 16 The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate 2 17 the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any 2 18 state mandates included in the bill. 2 19 The bill takes effect July 1, 2009, for the school years 2 20 beginning on or after that date. 2 21 LSB 1594XS 82 2 22 kh:rj/je/5