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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
]]]] 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
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