BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 236| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 236 Author: Pavley (D), et al. Amended: 5/8/13 Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 4/3/13 AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Monning SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/29/13 AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg SUBJECT : Four-day school week: Moorpark Unified School District SOURCE : Moonpark Unified School District DIGEST : This bill authorizes high schools offering a middle college program within the Moorpark Unified School District to operate a four-day school week, beginning in the 2013-14 fiscal year, if the school district complies with existing minimum instructional time requirements and meet their Academic Performance Index (API) growth targets, as specified. The intent of the bill is to only apply to high schools that have a middle college program. This bill sunsets January 1, 2019. ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes nine school districts to operate on a four-day school week, provided the school district meet various criteria, including but not limited to: CONTINUED SB 236 Page 2 1.Provides that participating school districts may only operate four-day school weeks if they reach mutual agreement to the operation in a memorandum of understanding with their collective bargaining units. 2.Requires a school site council to be involved in the planning and evaluation of a four-day school week. 3.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 one, two, and three, and not less than 845 hours for grades four through 12. 4.Prohibits a school day from exceeding eight hours and a school week from being less than four days. 5.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 community college, in order to reduce the likelihood of dropping out. The specific design of a middle college high school may vary depending on the circumstances of the community college 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. This bill authorizes high schools offering a middle college program within the Moorpark Unified School District to operate a four-day school week, beginning in the 2013-14 fiscal year, if the school district complies with existing minimum instructional time requirements and meet their API growth targets, as CONTINUED SB 236 Page 3 specified. The intent of the bill is to only apply to high schools that have a middle college program. Specifically, this bill: 1.Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to reduce the base revenue limit for the Moorpark Unified School District if the district operates high schools offering a middle college program on a four-day week and the pupils are provided fewer than 180 days, or fewer than the minimum number of minutes of instruction for each grade level, of instruction. 2.Permanently revokes the authority of a high school offering a middle college program to operate a four-day week if a small school with between 11 and 99 valid Standard Testing and Reporting Program test scores fails to achieve its API growth target for two consecutive years. This bill revokes this authority beginning with the school year following the second consecutive year the school failed to achieve its API growth rate. 3.Requires the Moorpark Unified School District, if it operates any high schools offering a middle college program on a four-day week pursuant to this bill, to submit a report to the California Department of Education and the Senate and Assembly Education Committees by January 15, 2018. This bill requires the report to include: A. Programs the district offered on the fifth school day and their participation rates. B. Whether the four-day school week schedule resulted in any fiscal savings. C. Impact on overall attendance of the schools operating a four-day school week. D. Programs for which the State Board of Education (SBE) waived requirements regarding operation for a minimum amount of time and for five consecutive days, and the operational and educational effects of the programs if they operated at less time than required. E. The impact of the four-day school week on crime CONTINUED SB 236 Page 4 statistics, especially on the fifth day when school is not in operation. F. Information on the API for every year a school in the Moorpark Unified School District operated on a four-day week, including but not limited to: (1) The base and growth API of each school that operated a four-day week. (2) Whether that school met the API growth targets. 1.Authorizes the SBE to waive existing requirements to operate any school on a four-day week. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No This bill is not expected to result in new costs to the state, as it does not change the Moonpark United School District's current state apportionment. SUPPORT : (Verified 5/8/13) Moonpark Unified School District (source) Moorpark College ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, the traditional five-day school week is not conducive to Moorpark Unified School District's "middle college" program. The traditional five-day school week currently required by statute is not conducive to the advanced pacing of the Middle College program. Typically, four-day school weeks have been implemented as a form of budget control. However, allowing Moorpark Unified School District to convert this one program to a four-day school week would provide needed flexibility for an academically intense middle college curriculum. PQ:ej 5/8/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE CONTINUED SB 236 Page 5 **** END **** CONTINUED