BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    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:

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          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  

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          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  

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               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


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