2003 Legislation
Print Friendly

HOUSE BILL NO. 393 – Schools, instructional hours

HOUSE BILL NO. 393

View Daily Data Tracking History

View Bill Text

View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact



Text to be added within a bill has been marked with Bold and
Underline. Text to be removed has been marked with
Strikethrough and Italic. How these codes are actually displayed will
vary based on the browser software you are using.

This sentence is marked with bold and underline to show added text.

This sentence is marked with strikethrough and italic, indicating
text to be removed.

Daily Data Tracking History



H0393.............................................................by EDUCATION
SCHOOLS - INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS - Amends existing law to provide that
instructional hours for required academic subjects and curriculum shall be
scheduled on Monday through Thursday; to provide that noninstructional and
nonacademic classes, social, athletic and extracurricular activities may be
scheduled on both Friday and Saturday; to exclude time in school assemblies
from being included in instructional hours; to provide that educational
programs for out-of-school youth and adults shall not be scheduled to
interfere with the academic instructional hours reserved for Monday through
Thursday; to provide that kindergarten classes shall be scheduled during
required instructional hours; to provide that extracurricular activities shall
not be scheduled at any time Monday through Thursday; and to clarify that time
spent in extracurricular activities shall not be counted toward general
attendance requirements.
                                                                        
03/26    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/27    Rpt prt - to Educ

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ||||              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ||||
 Fifty-seventh Legislature                 First Regular Session - 2003
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 393
                                                                        
                                   BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES AND INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS; AMENDING
  3        SECTION 33-512, IDAHO  CODE,  TO  PROVIDE  THAT  INSTRUCTIONAL  HOURS  FOR
  4        REQUIRED  ACADEMIC  SUBJECTS  AND  CURRICULUM SHALL BE SCHEDULED ON MONDAY
  5        THROUGH THURSDAY, TO PROVIDE THAT NONINSTRUCTIONAL AND  NONACADEMIC  CLAS-
  6        SES,  SOCIAL,  ATHLETIC AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES MAY BE SCHEDULED ON
  7        BOTH FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, TO EXCLUDE TIME IN SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES FROM  BEING
  8        INCLUDED  IN  INSTRUCTIONAL  HOURS, TO PROVIDE THAT EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR
  9        OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH AND ADULTS SHALL NOT BE SCHEDULED  TO  INTERFERE  WITH
 10        THE  ACADEMIC INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS RESERVED FOR MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, TO
 11        PROVIDE THAT KINDERGARTEN  CLASSES  SHALL  BE  SCHEDULED  DURING  REQUIRED
 12        INSTRUCTIONAL  HOURS  AS  PROVIDED HEREIN, TO PROVIDE THAT EXTRACURRICULAR
 13        ACTIVITIES SHALL NOT BE SCHEDULED AT ANY TIME MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY  AND
 14        TO  CLARIFY  THAT  TIME  SPENT  IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES SHALL NOT BE
 15        COUNTED TOWARD GENERAL ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS.
                                                                        
 16    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
 17        SECTION 1.  That Section 33-512, Idaho Code, be, and the  same  is  hereby
 18    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
 19        33-512.  GOVERNANCE  OF SCHOOLS. The board of trustees of each school dis-
 20    trict shall have the following powers and duties:
 21        1.  To fix the days of the year and the hours  of  the  day  when  schools
 22    shall be in session. However:
 23        (a)  Each school district shall annually adopt and implement a school cal-
 24        endar  which  provides its students at each grade level with the following
 25        minimum number of instructional hours, and provided further, that instruc-
 26        tional hours for required academic subjects and curriculum shall be sched-
 27        uled on the days of the week  Monday  through  Thursday.  Noninstructional
 28        classes,  nonacademic classes, school social, athletic and extracurricular
 29        activities may be scheduled at any time on both Friday and  Saturday,  but
 30        shall  not be scheduled during the noon hour, after-school hours or in the
 31        evening hours on any day Monday through Thursday:
 32                      Grades                             Hours
 33                       9-12                               990
 34                       4-8                                900
 35                       1-3                                810
 36                       K                                  450
 37        (b)  School assemblies, tTesting and other instructionally related activi-
 38        ties involving students directly may be included in the required  instruc-
 39        tional hours scheduled Monday through Thursday.
 40        (c)  When  approved  by  a  local  school board, annual instructional hour
 41        requirements stated in paragraph (a) may be reduced as follows:
 42             (i)   Up to a total of twenty-two (22)  hours  to  accommodate  staff
 43             development  activities  conducted  on  such days as the local school
                                                                        
                                           2
                                                                        
  1             board deems appropriate.
  2             (ii)  Up to a total of eleven (11) hours of emergency school closures
  3             due to adverse weather conditions and facility failures.
  4        However, transportation to and from school, passing times between classes,
  5        recess and lunch periods shall not be included.
  6        (d)  Student and staff activities related to the opening  and  closing  of
  7        the  school  year,  grade reporting, program planning, staff meetings, and
  8        other classroom and building management activities shall not be counted as
  9        instructional time or in the reductions provided in  paragraph  (c)(i)  of
 10        this section.
 11        (e)  For  multiple  shift programs, this rule applies to each shift (i.e.,
 12        each student must have access to the  minimum  annual  required  hours  of
 13        instructions).
 14        (f)  The  instructional  time  requirement  for  grade  12 students may be
 15        reduced by action of a local school board for an amount  of  time  not  to
 16        exceed eleven (11) hours of instructional time.
 17        (g)  The state superintendent of public instruction may grant an exemption
 18        from  the  provisions  of this section for an individual building within a
 19        district, when the closure of that building, for unforeseen circumstances,
 20        does not affect the attendance of other buildings within the district.
 21        2.  To adopt and carry on, and provide for the financing of, a total  edu-
 22    cational  program  for  the  district.  Such programs in other than elementary
 23    school districts may include education programs for  out-of-school  youth  and
 24    adults,  provided such programs shall not be scheduled so as to interfere with
 25    the academic instructional hours reserved for Monday through Thursday as spec-
 26    ified in subsection 1.(a) of this section;  and  such  districts  may  provide
 27    classes  in  kindergarten,  provided  such  classes are scheduled during hours
 28    reserved for required instructional hours Monday through Thursday as specified
 29    in subsection 1.(a) of this section;
 30        3.  To provide, or require pupils to be provided with, suitable  textbooks
 31    and  supplies,  and  for  advice on textbook selections may appoint a textbook
 32    adoption committee as provided in section 33-512A, Idaho Code;
 33        4.  To protect the morals and health of the pupils;
 34        5.  To exclude from school, children not of school age;
 35        6.  To prescribe rules for the disciplining  of  unruly  or  insubordinate
 36    pupils, such rules to be included in a district discipline code adopted by the
 37    board  of  trustees and a summarized version thereof to be provided in writing
 38    at the beginning of each school year to the teachers and students in the  dis-
 39    trict  in  a manner consistent with the student's age, grade and level of aca-
 40    demic achievement;
 41        7.  To exclude from school, pupils with contagious or infectious  diseases
 42    who are diagnosed or suspected as having a contagious or infectious disease or
 43    those  who  are not immune and have been exposed to a contagious or infectious
 44    disease; and to close school on order of the state board of  health  or  local
 45    health authorities;
 46        8.  To equip and maintain a suitable library or libraries in the school or
 47    schools  and  to  exclude  therefrom, and from the schools, all books, tracts,
 48    papers, and catechisms of sectarian nature;
 49        9.  To determine school holidays. Any listing  of  school  holidays  shall
 50    include  not  less  than the following: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Indepen-
 51    dence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Other days listed  in  section
 52    73-108,  Idaho Code, if the same shall fall on a school day, shall be observed
 53    with appropriate ceremonies; and any days the state  board  of  education  may
 54    designate,  following  the proclamation by the governor, shall be school holi-
 55    days;
                                                                        
                                           3
                                                                        
  1        10. To erect and maintain on each schoolhouse or school grounds a suitable
  2    flagstaff or flagpole, and display thereon the flag of the  United  States  of
  3    America  on  all  days, except during inclement weather, when the school is in
  4    session; and for each Veterans Day, each school in session shall  conduct  and
  5    observe  an  appropriate  program of at least one (1) class period remembering
  6    and honoring American veterans;
  7        11. To prohibit entrance to each schoolhouse or school  grounds,  to  pro-
  8    hibit  loitering  in  schoolhouses or on school grounds and to provide for the
  9    removal from each schoolhouse or school grounds of any individual or individu-
 10    als who disrupt the educational processes or whose presence is detrimental  to
 11    the  morals,  health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils. A
 12    person who disrupts the educational process or whose presence  is  detrimental
 13    to  the  morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils
 14    or who loiters in schoolhouses or on school grounds, is  guilty  of  a  misde-
 15    meanor.
 16        12. To  supervise  and  regulate,  including  by contract with established
 17    entities, those extracurricular activities which are by definition outside  of
 18    or  in  addition  to  the  regular  academic courses or curriculum of a public
 19    school, and which extracurricular activities shall not be considered to  be  a
 20    property,  liberty  or contract right of any student, and such extracurricular
 21    activities shall not be deemed a necessary element of a public  school  educa-
 22    tion, but shall be considered to be a privilege, and such activities shall not
 23    be  scheduled for any day, including the noon hour, after-school hours or eve-
 24    ning hours on Monday through Thursday as required by the provisions of subsec-
 25    tion 1.(a) of this section, nor shall attendance during  these  activities  be
 26    counted toward general attendance requirements.
 27        13. To  govern  the school district in compliance with state law and rules
 28    of the state board of education.
 29        14. To submit to the superintendent of public instruction not  later  than
 30    July  1  of  each year documentation which meets the reporting requirements of
 31    the federal gun-free schools act of  1994  as  contained  within  the  federal
 32    improving America's schools act of 1994.
 33        15. To  require  that all persons hired for the first time by the district
 34    or who have been in the employ of the district five (5) years or less, undergo
 35    a criminal history check as provided in section 33-130, Idaho Code.  All  such
 36    employees  who  are  required to undergo a criminal history check shall obtain
 37    the history check within three (3)  months  of  starting  employment,  or  for
 38    employees  with  five  (5)  years  or less with the district, within three (3)
 39    months from the date such employee is notified that he must undergo a criminal
 40    history check. Such employees shall pay  the  cost  of  the  criminal  history
 41    check.  If  the  criminal  history check shows that the employee has been con-
 42    victed of a felony crime enumerated in section 33-1208, Idaho Code,  it  shall
 43    be  grounds  for immediate termination, dismissal or other personnel action of
 44    the district, except that it shall be the right  of  the  school  district  to
 45    evaluate whether an individual convicted of one (1) of these crimes and having
 46    been  incarcerated for that crime shall be hired. The district may require any
 47    or all persons who have been employed continuously with the same district  for
 48    more  than  five (5) years, to undergo a criminal history check as provided in
 49    section 33-130, Idaho  Code. If the district elects to require  criminal  his-
 50    tory  checks of such employees, the district shall pay the costs of the crimi-
 51    nal history check or reimburse employees for such cost. A  substitute  teacher
 52    who  has undergone a criminal history check at the request of one (1) district
 53    in which he has been employed as a substitute shall not be required to undergo
 54    an additional criminal history check at the request of any other  district  in
 55    which  he  is  employed as a substitute if the teacher has obtained a criminal
                                                                        
                                           4
                                                                        
  1    history check within the previous three  (3)  years.   If  the  district  next
  2    employing  the  substitute  still  elects  to require another criminal history
  3    check within the three (3) year period, that district shall pay  the  cost  of
  4    the criminal history check or reimburse the substitute teacher for such cost.
  5        16. Each  board  of trustees of a school district shall be responsible for
  6    developing a system for registering volunteers or contractors consistent  with
  7    maintaining a safe environment for their students.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact



                       STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
                             RS 13222
The purpose of this legislation is to emphasize the importance of
academics; to allow students to take full advantage of the
academic opportunities provided by Idaho's tax supported public
schools; to give students adequate time to attend all of the
classes offered during each school day; to provide students with
adequate time to prepare all home work required by their
teachers; to assure that students have adequate time to rest so
that they can arrive at school each day fully rested and prepared
to participate in all classroom activities; to provide teachers
the opportunity to teach all of their classes with a minimum
number of absent students; and to allow ample time on Friday and
Saturday for extra-curricular activities.
                          FISCAL IMPACT
It is estimated that savings to the state general fund could be
up to $8 million each year; school district cost savings could be
up to $1.5 million a year.


Contact
Name: Lee Crockett 
Phone: 208-648-7803
Name: Rep. Eulalie Langford
Phone: 208-332-1000


STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                       H 393