Amended in Assembly April 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1719


Introduced by Assembly Members Weber and Buchanan

February 13, 2014


An act to amend Section 37202 of, to amend and repeal Sections 8973, 46111, 46117, 46118, and 46119 of, and to amend, repeal, and add Sections 46112 and 46114 of, the Education Code, relating to kindergarten.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1719, as amended, Weber. Full-day kindergarten.

Existing law provides that school districts offering kindergarten may maintain kindergarten classes at different schoolsites for different lengths of time.

This bill would require, commencing with the 2017-18 school year, school districts offering kindergarten to implement a full-day kindergarten program, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would permit a school to postpone implementation of a full-day kindergarten if its governing board approves the postponement. The bill would require the governing board of the school district to submit the reasons for the postponement to the State Department of Education within one month of the vote. The bill would provide that a minimum schoolday for full-day kindergarten isbegin delete 230 minutes, as specified.end deletebegin insert the same number of minutes per schoolday that is offered to pupils in first grade.end insert The bill would provide that a school district that has postponed implementation of the full-day kindergarten requirement has a minimum schoolday of 180 minutes.

This bill also would make conforming changes to other provisions of existing law.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) All California public school kindergarten pupils deserve the
4opportunity to maximize their growth, development, and success
5at this critical time in their developmental process.

6(b) Full-day kindergarten provides this opportunity through a
7longer instructional day that has proven to be successful where it
8has been implemented. School districts can obtain an example of
9an extended kindergarten curriculum to help them more easily
10transition to the program. One example curriculum that was
11designed for a full-day kindergarten program is available through
12the Los Angeles Unified School District, which has already
13 implemented a full-day program.

14(c) Full-day kindergarten should provide time to meet the
15developmentally based instructional needs of the whole child. It
16should encompass all curricular areas, including visual and
17performing arts and physical education, as outlined in the state
18adopted curriculum frameworks.

19(d) In addition, full-day kindergarten must be a priority for
20school districts and reserving or obtaining space for the full-day
21kindergarten program must take precedence over all nonclass
22requirements.

23(e) However, some school districts may face difficulties in
24transitioning to a full-day kindergarten program and these school
P3    1districts must be provided with the necessary time to achieve
2readiness.

3

SEC. 2.  

Section 8973 of the Education Code is amended to
4read:

5

8973.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the kindergarten
6schoolday in an early primary program conducted pursuant to
7Section 8972 may exceed four hours, exclusive of recesses,
8provided that both of the following conditions are met:

9(1) The governing board of a school district declares that the
10extended-day kindergarten program does not exceed the length of
11the primary schoolday.

12(2) The extended-day kindergarten program takes into account
13ample opportunity for both active and quiet activities within an
14integrated, experiential, and developmentally appropriate
15educational program.

16(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and
17as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
18that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
19extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

20

SEC. 3.  

Section 37202 of the Education Code is amended to
21read:

22

37202.  

(a) Except if a school has been closed by order of a
23city or a county board of health, or of the State Board of Health,
24on account of contagious disease, or if the school has been closed
25on account of fire, flood, or other public disaster, the governing
26board of a school district shall maintain all of the elementary day
27schools established by it for an equal length of time during the
28school year and all of the day high schools established by it for an
29equal length of time during the school year.

30(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district that is
31implementing an early primary program, pursuant to Chapter 8
32(commencing with Section 8970) of Part 6,begin insert of Division 1 of Title
331end insert
may maintain kindergarten classes at different schoolsites within
34thebegin insert schoolend insert district for different lengths of time during the
35schoolday, except as provided in subdivision (c).

36(c) Commencing with the 2017-18 school year, each school
37district shall implement a full-day kindergarten program.

38(d) A school district that determines that it cannot comply with
39begin insert theend insert requirement in subdivision (c) may, after deliberation and vote
40of its governing board, postpone the requirement of subdivision
P4    1(c). The reasons for the postponement, if approved by the governing
2board of the school district, shall be submitted to the department
3 within one month of the vote.

4(e) For purposes of this section, “full-day kindergarten” means,
5except as otherwise provided in this chapter, instruction provided
6forbegin delete a minimum of 230end deletebegin insert the same number ofend insert minutes perbegin delete schoolday,end delete
7begin insert schoolday that is offered to pupils in first grade,end insert exclusive of noon
8intermissions, but inclusive of recesses, in accordance with Section
946115.

10(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the governing board of
11a school district develop the implementation plan for full-day
12 kindergarten pursuant to this section in consultation with affected
13employee representatives and parents.

14

SEC. 4.  

Section 46111 of the Education Code is amended to
15read:

16

46111.  

(a) (1) A pupil in a kindergarten shall not be kept in
17school in any day more than four hours exclusive of recesses,
18except for pupils in Early Primary Programs, as set forth in Chapter
198 (commencing with Section 8970) of Part 6begin insert of Division 1 of Title
201end insert
.

21(2) A pupil in a kindergarten in a school operating on a program
22of multitrack year-round scheduling pursuant to subdivision (a)
23of Section 37670 may be kept in school on any day for 265 minutes
24of instruction, exclusive of recesses.

25(b) This section does not apply to the Pasadena Unified School
26District or counties of the third class as determined pursuant to
27Section 28024 of the Government Code, as it read on January 1,
281977.

29(c) This section does not apply to a pupil of the San Bernardino
30Unified School District who is determined by the principal of the
31school in which that pupil is enrolled, pursuant to testing, teacher
32recommendation, or both, to be developmentally and academically
33suited for a longer instructional day.

34(d) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and
35as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
36that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
37extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

38

SEC. 5.  

Section 46112 of the Education Code is amended to
39read:

P5    1

46112.  

(a) The minimum schoolday in grades 1, 2, and 3 in
2elementary schools, except in opportunity schools, classes, or
3programs, is 230 minutes, except if the governing board of a school
4district has prescribed a shorter length for the schoolday because
5ofbegin insert aend insert lack of school facilities that requires double sessions, in which
6case the minimum schoolday in those grades shall be 200 minutes.

7(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and
8as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
9that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
10extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

11

SEC. 6.  

Section 46112 is added to the Education Code, to read:

12

46112.  

(a) The minimum schoolday in grades 1, 2, and 3 in
13elementary schools, except in opportunity schools, classes, or
14programs, is 230 minutes, except if the governing board of a school
15district has prescribed a shorter length for the schoolday because
16ofbegin insert aend insert lack of school facilities that requires double sessions, in which
17case the minimum schoolday in those grades is 200 minutes.

18(b) The minimum schoolday in kindergarten in elementary
19schools isbegin delete 230 minutes,end deletebegin insert the same number of minutes per schoolday
20that is offered to pupils in first grade,end insert
except where the governing
21board of a school district has voted to postpone that minimum
22schoolday pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 37202, in which
23case the minimum schoolday in kindergarten shall be 180 minutes.

24(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2017.

25

SEC. 7.  

Section 46114 of the Education Code is amended to
26read:

27

46114.  

(a) The minimum schoolday in a kindergarten
28implementing the full-day kindergarten program required by
29subdivisions (c) and (e) of Section 37202 and in grades 1, 2, and
303 in elementary schools may be computed by determining the
31number of minutes of attendance in any 10 consecutive schooldays
32and dividing that number by 10. If the resulting quotient is 230 or
33more, the pupils shall be deemed to have complied with Section
3446112, even if the number of minutes attended in any one
35schoolday is less than 230, but not less than 170.

36(b) The minimum schoolday in grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in
37elementary schools may be computed by determining the number
38of minutes of attendance in any 10 consecutive schooldays and
39dividing that number by 10. If the resulting quotient is 240 or more,
40the pupils shall be deemed to have complied with Section 46113,
P6    1even if the number of minutes attended in any one schoolday is
2less than 240, but not less than 180.

3(c) The minimum schoolday in kindergarten in elementary
4schools that are not implementing the full-day kindergarten
5program required by subdivision (c) of Section 37202 may be
6computed by determining the number of minutes of attendance in
7any 10 consecutive schooldays and dividing that number by 10.
8If the resulting quotient is 180 or more, pupils shall be deemed to
9have complied with Section 46117, even if the number of minutes
10attended in any one schoolday is less than 180, but not less than
1160.

12(d) A computation authorized by this section shall not result in
13any increase in state apportionments.

14(e) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and
15as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
16that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
17extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

18

SEC. 8.  

Section 46114 is added to the Education Code, to read:

19

46114.  

(a) The minimum schoolday in kindergarten and grades
201, 2, and 3 in elementary schools may be computed by determining
21the number of minutes of attendance in any 10 consecutive
22schooldays and dividing that number by 10. If the resulting quotient
23is 230 or more, the pupils shall be deemed to have complied with
24Section 46112, even if the number of minutes attended in any one
25schoolday is less than 230, but not less than 170.

26(b) The minimum schoolday in grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in
27elementary schools may be computed by determining the number
28of minutes of attendance in any 10 consecutive schooldays and
29dividing that number by 10. If the resulting quotient is 240 or more,
30the pupils shall be deemed to have complied with Section 46113,
31even if the number of minutes attended in any one schoolday is
32less than 240, but not less than 180.

33(c) The computation authorized by this section shall not result
34in any increase in state apportionments.

35(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2017.

36

SEC. 9.  

Section 46117 of the Education Code is amended to
37read:

38

46117.  

(a) The minimum schoolday for a pupil in a
39kindergarten other than a kindergarten that is implementing the
40full-day kindergarten program required by subdivision (c) of
P7    1Section 37202 is 180 minutes inclusive of recesses, and a unit of
2average daily attendance shall not be credited for attendance in
3kindergarten classes if the minimum schoolday of those classes is
4less than 180 minutes.

5(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and
6as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
7that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
8extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

9

SEC. 10.  

Section 46118 of the Education Code is amended to
10read:

11

46118.  

(a) A single-session kindergarten class shall meet all
12of the following criteria:

13(1) The class is maintained for a minimum of 180 minutes per
14schoolday, unless the kindergarten is implementing the full-day
15kindergarten program required by subdivision (c) of Section 37202.

16(2) The kindergarten class teacher is assigned to only one session
17of kindergarten daily as a principal teacher.

18(3) The kindergarten teacher is a full-time certificated employee.

19(4) The kindergarten teacher shall be available for assistance
20or assignment in the instructional program of the primary grades
21when not involved in the kindergarten program.

22(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and
23as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
24that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
25extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

26

SEC. 11.  

Section 46119 of the Education Code is amended to
27read:

28

46119.  

(a) The governing board of a school district that has
29fewer than 40 pupils enrolled in kindergarten classes may apply
30to the Superintendent for approval to maintain two kindergarten
31classes of 150 minutes each inclusive of recesses on the same day
32that are taught by the same teacher. The average daily attendance
33for those classes shall be adjusted by a multiplication factor of
340.500.

35(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and
36as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
37that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
38extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

39

SEC. 12.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines
40that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement
P8    1to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
2pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
34 of Title 2 of the Government Code.



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