HOUSE FILE 144

BY  J. TAYLOR, FORRISTALL, LUKAN, HELLAND, TJEPKES, RAECKER, and JORGENSEN

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the minimum hours of instructional school time in a school year for public and accredited nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 19, Code 2011, is amended by striking the subsection.
   Sec. 2.  Section 256.7, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  31.  Adopt rules that define what constitutes instructional time for purposes of the minimum hours of instructional time set forth in section 279.10. Instructional time shall not include the lunch period, recess, time for noninstructional assemblies, late arrival or early dismissal times required for emergency health or safety factors, weather-related late starts or early releases, or time used for professional development.
   Sec. 3.  Section 256F.4, subsection 5, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  A charter school or innovation zone school shall provide instruction for at least the number of days hours required by section 279.10, subsection 1, or shall provide at least the equivalent number of total hours.
   Sec. 4.  Section 279.10, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   279.10  School year —— beginning date —— exceptions —— pilot programs instructional hours —— exception.
   1.  The school year for each school district and accredited nonpublic school shall begin onthe first day of July 1 and each regularly established elementary and secondary school shall begin no sooner than a day during the calendar week in which the first day of September falls but no later than the first Monday in December. However, if the first day of September falls on a Sunday, school may begin on a day during the calendar week which immediately precedes the first day of September. School shall continue for at least one hundred eighty days, except as provided in subsection 3, and may be maintained during the entire calendar year end on June 30. However, if the board of directors of a district extends the school calendar because inclement weather caused the district to temporarily close school during the regular school calendar, the The minimum hours of instructional time in a school year for an elementary school shall be nine hundred ninety hours. The minimum hours of instructional time in a school year for a secondary school shall be one thousand eighty hours. A school district may excuse or accredited nonpublic school shall require a graduating senior who has met district or school to meet the same requirements forgraduation from attendance during theextended school calendar as those required of any other class of students enrolled at the secondary level in the school district or accredited nonpublic school, except with regard to activities related to graduation as authorized by the school district or accredited nonpublic school. The board of directors of a school district and the authorities in charge of an accredited nonpublic school shall set the number of days of required attendance for the school year as provided in section 299.1, subsection 2. A school corporation may begin employment of personnel for in-service training and development purposes before the date to begin elementary and secondary school.
   2.  The board of directors shall hold a public hearing on any proposal prior to submitting it to the department of education for approval.
   3.  The board of directors of a school district may request approval from the department of education for a pilot program for an innovative school year. The number of days per year that school is in session may be more or less than those specified in subsection 1, but the innovative school year shall provide for an equivalent number of total hours that school is in session.
   a.  The board shall file a request for approval with the department not later than November 1 of the preceding school year. The request shall include a listing of the savings and goals to be attained under the innovative school year subject to rules adopted by the department under chapter 17A. The department shall notify the districts of the approval or denial of pilot programs not later than the next following January 15.
   b.  A request to continue an innovative school year pilot project after its initial year also shall include an evaluation of the savings and impacts on the educational program in the district.
   c.  Participation in a pilot project shall not modify provisions of a master contract negotiated between a school district and a certified bargaining unit pursuant to chapter 20 unless mutually agreed upon.
   4.  The director of the department of education may grant a request made by a board of directors of a school district stating its desire to commence classes for regularly established elementary and secondary schools prior to the earliest starting date specified in subsection 1. A request shall be based upon the determination that a starting date on or after the earliest starting date specified in subsection 1 would have a significant negative educational impact.
   Sec. 5.  Section 299.4, subsection 1, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child who is of compulsory attendance age, who places the child under competent private instruction under either section 299A.2 or 299A.3, not in an accredited school or a home school assistance program operated by a school district or accredited nonpublic school, shall furnish a report in duplicate on forms provided by the public school district, to the district by the earliest starting date specified in section 279.10, subsection 1 July 1 of the school year in which the child will be under competent private instruction. The secretary shall retain and file one copy and forward the other copy to the district’s area education agency. The report shall state the name and age of the child, the period of time during which the child has been or will be under competent private instruction for the year, an outline of the course of study, texts used, and the name and address of the instructor. The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child, who is placing the child under competent private instruction for the first time, shall also provide the district with evidence that the child has had the immunizations required under section 139A.8, and, if the child is elementary school age, a blood lead test in accordance with section 135.105D. The term“outline of course of study” shall include subjects covered, lesson plans, and time spent on the areas of study.
   Sec. 6.  REPEAL.  Sections 256.20 and 256.22, Code 2011, are repealed.
   Sec. 7.  REPEAL.  Section 257.17, Code 2011, is repealed. 
   Sec. 8.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect July 1, 2012.
EXPLANATION
   This bill replaces the current 180-day school calendar, which converts to a required 990 hours of instructional school time at 5.5 hours per day, with a requirement that the school calendar include 990 hours of instructional time for elementary schools and 1,080 hours of instructional time for secondary schools. The bill authorizes school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to set the number of days their schools will be in session.
   The bill strikes a Code provision directing the state board of education to define the minimum school day and allowing the minimum hours to include early dismissals or late arrivals for inclement weather or emergency health factors and staff development. However, the bill adds a new requirement that the state board define what constitutes instructional time, which the bill states cannot include the lunch period, recess, assembly time, late arrival or early dismissal times, or professional development time.
   The bill eliminates a provision that authorizes a school district to excuse a graduating senior from attendance on days added to the school calendar to make up for days lost due to inclement weather. The bill requires that graduating seniors meet the same attendance requirements as those required of any other class of students at the secondary level, except with regard to graduation activities.
   The bill also includes technical changes and repeals obsolete provisions relating to innovative school year pilots, school start date waivers and penalties, year around school pilot projects, and an extended year school grant program.
   The bill takes effect July 1, 2012.