BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 236 (Pavley) - Moorpark Unified School District: Four-day
School Week
Amended: April 11, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0
Urgency: Yes Mandate: No
Hearing Date: April 29, 2013
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 236 authorizes the Moorpark Unified School
District (Moorpark USD), effective in the 2013-14 school year,
to operate a 4-day school week for any of its high schools that
operates a middle college high school program, subject to
specified requirements.
Fiscal Impact: This bill is not expected to result in new costs
to the state, as it does not change the Moorpark USD's current
state apportionment.
Background: Existing law authorizes nine school districts to
operate on a 4-day school week, provided the school district
meet various criteria, including but not limited to, (a)
provides that participating school districts may only operate
4-day school weeks if they reach mutual agreement to the
operation in a memorandum of understanding with their collective
bargaining units; (b) requires a school site council to be
involved in the planning and evaluation of a 4-day school week;
(c) requires a participating school district to provide on an
annual basis not less than 560 hours of instructional time for
kindergarten, not less than 700 hours for grades 1, 2, and 3,
and not less than 845 hours for grades 4-12; and (d) prohibits a
school day from exceeding eight hours and a school week from
being less than four days. (EC § 37700 et seq.)
Existing law also authorizes the establishment of middle college
high schools. The goal of the middle college high school is to
select at-risk students who are performing below their academic
potential and place them in an alternative high school located
on a California community college (CCC) campus, in order to
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reduce the likelihood of dropping out. The specific design of a
middle college high school may vary depending on the
circumstances of the CCC or school district. The basic elements
of the middle college high school shall include, but not be
limited to, the following: (a) a curriculum that focuses on
college and career preparation; (b) a reduced adult-student
ratio; (c) flexible scheduling to allow for work internships,
community service experience, and interaction with community
college student role models; (d) opportunities for experiential
internships, work apprenticeships, and community service. (EC §
11300 et seq.)
Proposed Law: SB 236 authorizes middle college high schools
within the Moorpark USD to operate a 4-day school week,
beginning in the 2013-14 fiscal year, if the school district
complies with existing minimum instructional time requirements
and the schools meet their Academic Performance Index (API)
growth targets, as specified. These provisions would sunset on
June 30, 2018. This bill is an urgency measure.
Staff Comments: Moorpark USD currently operates one middle
college high school program which was founded, in part, with a
$100,000 grant received from the CCC Chancellor's Office in 2000
(renewed annually until 2009). The high school, which operates
on a 5-day school week currently, is a partnership between
Moorpark College and Moorpark US. It is primarily funded through
Moorpark USD, and serves approximately 100 students, who are
required to be in grades 11 or 12, and to fully participate in
the middle college high school program, in order to attend the
school.
Moorpark USD is requesting programmatic flexibility to run a
4-day school week for the middle college high school program it
has operated for more than a decade on a 5-day school week, and
within its existing budget. Authorizing a 4-day school week for
this program does not result in new state costs. Absent this
bill, there would be a potential state revenue loss if Moorpark
USD began operating a 4-day school week without a statutory
change that exempts the district from being penalized for doing
so. More likely, Moorpark USD would simply continue the
program's 5-day school week and continue to receive its current
funding level. The district has indicated that it will not
change its middle college high school program to a 4-day school
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week if its funding will be reduced.
Recommended Amendments: Amend to change the cross-reference in
Section 2(b) of the bill from Education Code section 46201 to
46146.5. The former references the minimum instructional minutes
required of high schools, in general; EC 46146.5 is the code
section specific to minimum instructional minutes required for
middle college high schools.