Amended in Assembly May 1, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1719

Introduced by Assembly Members Weber and Buchanan

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Bonilla)

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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 begin insert district end insert to postpone implementation of a full-day kindergarten begin insert due to a lack of facilities end insert if its governing board approves the begin delete postponement. The bill end delete begin insert postponement and end insert would require the begin delete governing board of the end delete school district to begin delete submit the reasons for end delete begin insert notify end insert the begin delete postponement to the end delete State Department of Education begin insert of the postponement end insert within one month of the vote. The bill would provide that a minimum schoolday for full-day kindergarten is the same number of minutes per schoolday that is offered to pupils in first grade. 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:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

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

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

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

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

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

SEC. 2.  

Section 8973 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

8973.  

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

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

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

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

SEC. 3.  

Section 37202 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

37202.  

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

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

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

(d) A school district that determines that it cannot comply with
the requirement in subdivision (c) begin insert due to a lack of facilities end insert may,
after deliberation and vote of its governing board, postpone the
requirement of subdivision (c). begin delete The reasons for the postponement,
if end delete begin insert If the postponement is end insert approved by the governing board of the
school district, begin insert the school district end insert shall begin delete be submitted to end delete begin insert notify end insert the
department begin insert of the postponement end insert within one month of the vote.

(e) For purposes of this section, “full-day kindergarten” means,
except as otherwise provided in this chapter, instruction provided
for the same number of minutes per schoolday that is offered to
pupils in first grade, exclusive of noon intermissions, but inclusive
of recesses, in accordance with Section 46115.

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

SEC. 4.  

Section 46111 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

46111.  

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

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

(b) This section does not apply to the Pasadena Unified School
District or counties of the third class as determined pursuant to
Section 28024 of the Government Code, as it read on January 1,
1977.

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

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

SEC. 5.  

Section 46112 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

46112.  

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

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

SEC. 6.  

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

46112.  

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

(b) The minimum schoolday in kindergarten in elementary
schools is the same number of minutes per schoolday that is offered
to pupils in first grade, except where the governing board of a
school district has voted to postpone that minimum schoolday
pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 37202, in which case the
minimum schoolday in kindergarten shall be 180 minutes.

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

SEC. 7.  

Section 46114 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

46114.  

(a) The minimum schoolday in a kindergarten
implementing the full-day kindergarten program required by
subdivisions (c) and (e) of Section 37202 and in grades 1, 2, and
3 in elementary schools may be computed by determining the
number of minutes of attendance in any 10 consecutive schooldays
and dividing that number by 10. If the resulting quotient is 230 or
more, the pupils shall be deemed to have complied with Section
46112, even if the number of minutes attended in any one
schoolday is less than 230, but not less than 170.

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

(c) The minimum schoolday in kindergarten in elementary
schools that are not implementing the full-day kindergarten
program required by subdivision (c) of Section 37202 may be
computed by determining the number of minutes of attendance in
any 10 consecutive schooldays and dividing that number by 10.
If the resulting quotient is 180 or more, pupils shall be deemed to
have complied with Section 46117, even if the number of minutes
attended in any one schoolday is less than 180, but not less than
60.

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

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

SEC. 8.  

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

46114.  

(a) The minimum schoolday in kindergarten and grades
1, 2, and 3 in elementary schools may be computed by determining
the number of minutes of attendance in any 10 consecutive
schooldays and dividing that number by 10. If the resulting quotient
is 230 or more, the pupils shall be deemed to have complied with
Section 46112, even if the number of minutes attended in any one
schoolday is less than 230, but not less than 170.

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

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

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

SEC. 9.  

Section 46117 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

46117.  

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

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

SEC. 10.  

Section 46118 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

46118.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEC. 11.  

Section 46119 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

46119.  

(a) The governing board of a school district that has
fewer than 40 pupils enrolled in kindergarten classes may apply
to the Superintendent for approval to maintain two kindergarten
classes of 150 minutes each inclusive of recesses on the same day
that are taught by the same teacher. The average daily attendance
for those classes shall be adjusted by a multiplication factor of
0.500.

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

SEC. 12.  

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