2007 Legislation
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HOUSE BILL NO. 72 – Schools, instructnl hours increased

HOUSE BILL NO. 72

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Bill Status



H0072..........................................................by EDUCATION
SCHOOLS - INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS - Amends existing law relating to schools to
increase the minimum number of instructional hours for grades four through
twelve.
                                                                        
01/30    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/31    Rpt prt - to Educ

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
 Fifty-ninth Legislature                   First Regular Session - 2007
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 72
                                                                        
                                   BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO EDUCATION; AMENDING SECTION 33-512, IDAHO CODE,  TO  INCREASE  THE
  3        MINIMUM  NUMBER  OF INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS FOR GRADES FOUR THROUGH TWELVE AND
  4        TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
                                                                        
  5    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
  6        SECTION 1.  That Section 33-512, Idaho Code, be, and the  same  is  hereby
  7    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
  8        33-512.  GOVERNANCE  OF SCHOOLS. The board of trustees of each school dis-
  9    trict shall have the following powers and duties:
 10        (1)  To fix the days of the year and the hours of  the  day  when  schools
 11    shall be in session. However:
 12        (a)  Each school district shall annually adopt and implement a school cal-
 13        endar  which  provides its students at each grade level with the following
 14        minimum number of instructional hours:
 15                      Grades                             Hours
 16                       9-12                               990 1100
 17                       4-8                                900 1000
 18                       1-3                                810
 19                       K                                  450
 20        (b)  School assemblies, testing and other instructionally related  activi-
 21        ties  involving students directly may be included in the required instruc-
 22        tional hours.
 23        (c)  When approved by a local  school  board,  annual  instructional  hour
 24        requirements stated in paragraph (a) may be reduced as follows:
 25             (i)   Up  to  a  total  of twenty-two (22) hours to accommodate staff
 26             development activities conducted on such days  as  the  local  school
 27             board deems appropriate.
 28             (ii)  Up to a total of eleven (11) hours of emergency school closures
 29             due to adverse weather conditions and facility failures.
 30        However, transportation to and from school, passing times between classes,
 31        recess and lunch periods shall not be included.
 32        (d)  Student  and  staff  activities related to the opening and closing of
 33        the school year, grade reporting, program planning,  staff  meetings,  and
 34        other classroom and building management activities shall not be counted as
 35        instructional  time  or  in the reductions provided in paragraph (c)(i) of
 36        this section.
 37        (e)  For multiple shift programs, this rule applies to each  shift  (i.e.,
 38        each  student  must  have  access  to the minimum annual required hours of
 39        instructions).
 40        (f)  The instructional time requirement  for  grade  12  students  may  be
 41        reduced    by  action of a local school board for an amount of time not to
 42        exceed eleven (11) hours of instructional time.
 43        (g)  The state superintendent of public instruction may grant an exemption
                                                                        
                                       2
                                                                        
  1        from the provisions of this section for an individual  building  within  a
  2        district, when the closure of that building, for unforeseen circumstances,
  3        does not affect the attendance of other buildings within the district.
  4        (2)  To adopt and carry on, and provide for the financing of, a total edu-
  5    cational  program  for  the  district.  Such programs in other than elementary
  6    school districts may include education programs for  out-of-school  youth  and
  7    adults; and such districts may provide classes in kindergarten;
  8        (3)  To provide, or require pupils to be provided with, suitable textbooks
  9    and  supplies,  and  for  advice on textbook selections may appoint a textbook
 10    adoption committee as provided in section 33-512A, Idaho Code;
 11        (4)  To protect the morals and health of the pupils;
 12        (5)  To exclude from school, children not of school age;
 13        (6)  To prescribe rules for the disciplining of  unruly  or  insubordinate
 14    pupils, including rules on student harassment, intimidation and bullying, such
 15    rules  to  be  included  in a district discipline code adopted by the board of
 16    trustees and a summarized version thereof to be provided  in  writing  at  the
 17    beginning  of each school year to the teachers and students in the district in
 18    a manner consistent with the  student's  age,  grade  and  level  of  academic
 19    achievement;
 20        (7)  To exclude from school, pupils with contagious or infectious diseases
 21    who are diagnosed or suspected as having a contagious or infectious disease or
 22    those  who  are not immune and have been exposed to a contagious or infectious
 23    disease; and to close school on order of the state board of  health  or  local
 24    health authorities;
 25        (8)  To  equip  and maintain a suitable library or libraries in the school
 26    or schools and to exclude therefrom, and from the schools, all books,  tracts,
 27    papers, and catechisms of sectarian nature;
 28        (9)  To  determine  school  holidays. Any listing of school holidays shall
 29    include not less than the following: New Year's Day,  Memorial  Day,  Indepen-
 30    dence  Day,  Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Other days listed in section
 31    73-108, Idaho Code, if the same shall fall on a school day, shall be  observed
 32    with  appropriate  ceremonies;  and  any days the state board of education may
 33    designate, following the proclamation by the governor, shall be  school  holi-
 34    days;
 35        (10) To  erect  and maintain on each schoolhouse or school grounds a suit-
 36    able flagstaff or flagpole, and display thereon the flag of the United  States
 37    of America on all days, except during inclement weather, when the school is in
 38    session;  and  for each Veterans Day, each school in session shall conduct and
 39    observe an appropriate program of at least one (1)  class  period  remembering
 40    and honoring American veterans;
 41        (11) To  prohibit  entrance to each schoolhouse or school grounds, to pro-
 42    hibit loitering in schoolhouses or on school grounds and to  provide  for  the
 43    removal from each schoolhouse or school grounds of any individual or individu-
 44    als  who disrupt the educational processes or whose presence is detrimental to
 45    the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the  pupils.  A
 46    person  who  disrupts the educational process or whose presence is detrimental
 47    to the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of  the  pupils
 48    or  who  loiters  in  schoolhouses or on school grounds, is guilty of a misde-
 49    meanor.;
 50        (12) To supervise and regulate, including  by  contract  with  established
 51    entities,  those extracurricular activities which are by definition outside of
 52    or in addition to the regular academic  courses  or  curriculum  of  a  public
 53    school,  and  which extracurricular activities shall not be considered to be a
 54    property, liberty or contract right of any student, and  such  extracurricular
 55    activities  shall  not be deemed a necessary element of a public school educa-
                                                                        
                                       3
                                                                        
  1    tion, but shall be considered to be a privilege.;
  2        (13) To govern the school district in compliance with state law and  rules
  3    of the state board of education.;
  4        (14) To  submit to the superintendent of public instruction not later than
  5    July 1 of each year documentation which meets the  reporting  requirements  of
  6    the  federal  gun-free  schools  act  of  1994 as contained within the federal
  7    improving America's schools act of 1994.;
  8        (15) To require that all persons hired for the first time by the  district
  9    or who have been in the employ of the district five (5) years or less, undergo
 10    a  criminal  history check as provided in section 33-130, Idaho Code. All such
 11    employees who are required to undergo a criminal history  check  shall  obtain
 12    the  history  check  within  three  (3)  months of starting employment, or for
 13    employees with five (5) years or less with  the  district,  within  three  (3)
 14    months from the date such employee is notified that he must undergo a criminal
 15    history  check.  Such  employees  shall  pay  the cost of the criminal history
 16    check. If the criminal history check shows that the  employee  has  been  con-
 17    victed  of  a felony crime enumerated in section 33-1208, Idaho Code, it shall
 18    be grounds for immediate termination, dismissal or other personnel  action  of
 19    the  district,  except  that  it  shall be the right of the school district to
 20    evaluate whether an individual convicted of one (1) of these crimes and having
 21    been incarcerated for that crime shall be hired. The district may require  any
 22    or  all persons who have been employed continuously with the same district for
 23    more than five (5) years, to undergo a criminal history check as  provided  in
 24    section 33-130, Idaho Code. If the district elects to require criminal history
 25    checks  of  such  employees,  the district shall pay the costs of the criminal
 26    history check or reimburse employees for such cost. A substitute  teacher  who
 27    has  undergone  a criminal history check at the request of one (1) district in
 28    which he has been employed as a substitute shall not be required to undergo an
 29    additional criminal history check at the request  of  any  other  district  in
 30    which  he  is  employed as a substitute if the teacher has obtained a criminal
 31    history check within the previous three  (3)  years.   If  the  district  next
 32    employing  the  substitute  still  elects  to require another criminal history
 33    check within the three (3) year period, that district shall pay  the  cost  of
 34    the criminal history check or reimburse the substitute teacher for such cost.;
 35        (16) Each  board of trustees of a school district shall be responsible for
 36    developing a system for registering volunteers or contractors consistent  with
 37    maintaining a safe environment for their students.;
 38        (17) To  provide  support for teachers in their first two (2) years in the
 39    profession in the areas of: administrative and supervisory support, mentoring,
 40    peer assistance and professional development.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact


                      STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

                             RS 16565

This legislation relates to k-12 education; amending Section 33-512,
Idaho Code, to increase the minimum number of instructional hours for
grades four through twelve and to make technical corrections.

U.S. public school students have consistently performed poorly against
other countries in the realm of international competition in the areas
of math and science.  Idaho students will be called upon to take added
course work in math and science as the added math and science
requirements are integrated into the curriculum.  The challenge is to
better prepare Idaho students so they can successfully compete in the
international arena.

An important factor that differentiates the Idaho School system with
those in countries such as Canada, Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, and
the European Union.  All of educational systems in these countries
require students to attend at least 200 or more days of school.  There
is also the fact that public school students tend to lose subject matter
knowledge and application during the summer break.  Research indicates
that a longer yearly school session contributes to improved academic
performance.


                          FISCAL NOTE

Adopting a 200 day public school schedule for grades 4 to 12 will impact
the General Fund by $38,151,000.



Contact
Name:  Representative Tom Trail 
Phone: (208) 332-1000


STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                                  H 72