BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 236
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 236 (Pavley)
As Amended June 26, 2013
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE :36-0
EDUCATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Chávez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Weber, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Hall, Holden, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes the Moorpark Unified School District (MUSD) to,
beginning in the 2013-14 fiscal year, operate one or more high
schools offering a middle college program on a four-day school week,
provided that it complies with specified instructional time
requirements and other requirements for operating a four-day school
week schedule. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the State Board of Education (SBE) to waive the
five-consecutive-day operating requirements for a middle college
program that operates on a four-day school week, provided that the
MUSD meets the minimum time requirements for a middle college
program.
2)Specifies that if a school in the MUSD operating a four-day school
week fails to achieve its Academic Performance Index (API) target,
the authority of that school to operate on a four-day school week
shall be permanently revoked beginning with the following school
year.
3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to reduce
the MUSD's local control funding formula (LCFF) allocation by
amounts the MUSD would have received in instructional time
incentive funding, adjusted for cost-of-living since the inception
of the incentive, if the MUSD does not maintain 180 days in a
school year and provide the instructional time required under
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current law.
4)Specifies that if a small school with between 11 and 99 valid
Standardized Testing and Reporting Program test scores operating
on a four-day school week fails to achieve its API growth target
for two consecutive years, the authority of that school to operate
on a four-day school week shall be permanently revoked beginning
with the following school year.
5)Specifies that if the MUSD operates one or more schools on a
four-day school week, the MUSD shall submit a report to the
California Department of Education (CDE) and the Senate and
Assembly Education Committees by January 15, 2018. The report
shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, all of the
following:
a) Programs the school district offered on the fifth schoolday
and their participation rates.
b) If the four-day school week schedule resulted in fiscal
savings.
c) Impact on overall attendance of the schools operating a
four-day school week.
d) Programs for which the SBE waived minimum time and
five-consecutive-day requirements 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 statistics,
especially on the day on which school would otherwise be in
session.
f) Information on the API for every year a school in the MUSD
operated on a four-day school week. The information shall
include, but not necessarily be limited to, the base and growth
API of each school that operated on a four-day school week and
whether that school met the API growth targets.
g) Specific outcomes for pupils attending a school operating on
a four-day school week including, but not limited to,
attendance rates, graduation rates, college entrance and
attendance rates, and employment rates of pupils who do not
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attend college.
6)Authorizes the MUSD operating one or more schools on a four-day
school week to claim a day of attendance for the pupils enrolled
in a middle college high school operating on a four-day school
week.
7)Specifies that upon a determination that the MUSD equals or
exceeds its LCFF target, the MUSD shall offer 180 days or more of
instruction per year, and shall meet specified minimum minute
requirements.
8)Becomes inoperative on June 30, 2018, and is repealed on January
1, 2019, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on
or before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends the dates on which
it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
9)Contains an urgency clause in order for the MUSD to use the
four-day school week authorization provided by this bill in the
2013-14 school year.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
there is no additional cost to the state General Fund (GF). There
may be potential GF/Proposition 98 savings if the MUSD's LCFF
allocation is reduced (at the discretion of the SPI) due to the MUSD
not meeting instructional minute and day requirements. In the
2011-12 fiscal year, the MUSD received a total of $35.4 million in
revenue limit funding (general purpose), which equaled approximately
$5,403 per average daily attendance (ADA). Under full
implementation of the LCFF, the MUSD is expected to receive
approximately $8,547 per ADA.
COMMENTS : This bill authorizes the MUSD to operate one or more high
schools operating a middle college program on a four-day school week
schedule. The MUSD operates one middle college high school program,
The High School @ Moorpark College, located on the Moorpark College
campus.
Middle college high schools : Existing law authorizes districts to
establish middle college high schools - a joint venture with
California Community College Districts and school districts - to
provide an alternative educational setting for select at-risk high
school students who are performing below their academic potential
and who can benefit from a program located on a community college
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campus in order to reduce the likelihood that they will drop out of
school before graduation. Students earn both high school and
college credits. The design of each middle college high school may
vary, but the basic elements of a middle college high school must
include the following:
1)A curriculum that focuses on college and career preparation;
2)A reduced adult-student ratio;
3)Flexible scheduling to allow for work internships, community
service experience, and interaction with community college student
role models; and,
4)Opportunities for experiential internships, work apprenticeships,
and community services.
According to the CDE, there are approximately 22 middle college high
schools in the state. The High School @ Moorpark College enrolls
approximately 100 11th and 12th grade at-risk students as well as
non-at-risk students seeking college credits. Approximately 10% of
the students enrolled are at-risk students.
Four-day school weeks : Prior to 1983, school districts were
required to operate schools for five days and 175 days per year.
The Hughes-Hart Educational Reform Act of 1983 (SB 813, Chapter 498,
Statutes of 1983) offered incentive funding for districts to offer
180 days of instruction each year. Current law authorizes nine
districts to operate on a four-day school week if the districts meet
required instructional time of not less than 560 hours of
instructional time for kindergarten; 700 hours of instructional time
for grades 1, 2, and 3; and not less than 845 hours of instructional
time for grades 4 through 12, without losing incentive funding.
According to the CDE, only two districts, Pacific Unified School
District (Monterey County) and Leggett Valley Unified School
District (Mendocino County), operate on a four-day school week
schedule, mainly due to extreme weather or geographic conditions.
The other districts, despite having received authorization, have
chosen to continue operating on a five-day school week schedule.
In the past, bills proposing to allow a school district to utilize a
four-day-school week schedule has been evaluated based on the
following conditions. The district:
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1)Is located in an area where there are extreme climate and
geography conditions.
2)Serves a widely dispersed population requiring long travel times
for significant number of students.
3)Demonstrates the expected benefits to the school(s) and students
of operating on shorter school week and instructional year.
4)Has considered and addressed concerns about possible negative
consequences of a longer school day and shorter week on employees,
students and families.
5)Is held to the requirements of existing law governing those school
districts already operating schools on a four-day week.
Purpose of the bill : The MUSD is not seeking authorization to
operate its middle college high school on a four-day school week
schedule for geographic, climate, or budgetary reasons, but for
programmatic reasons. According to the sponsor, the MUSD, students
take most of their classes from Monday through Thursday and
currently spend only two hours of instruction on Fridays. Allowing
the school to go to a four-day school week schedule would enable
students to spend a whole day on their senior projects, which
include community service hours, or enable teachers to provide
tutoring or additional assistance to students who need it.
Instruction time would increase by an hour from Monday through
Thursday in order to meet statutory instructional minutes. The
sponsor indicates that the families of the students have been
surveyed and they do not object to a four-day school week schedule.
This bill, similar to prior four-day school week authorizations,
require the school to meet specified instructional time requirements
and to meet their API growth targets, or the authorization is
revoked. The bill also requires the MUSD to submit a report to the
CDE and the Legislature with the following specified information by
January 15, 2018, if the MUSD chooses to operate one or more schools
on a four-day school week schedule:
1)Programs the school district offered on the fifth schoolday and
their participation rates.
2)If the four-day school week schedule resulted in fiscal savings.
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3)Impact on overall attendance of the schools operating a four-day
school week.
4)Programs for which the SBE waived minimum time and
five-consecutive-day requirements and the operational and
educational effects of the programs if they operated at less time
than required.
5)The impact of the four-day school week on crime statistics,
especially on the day on which school would otherwise be in
session.
6)Information on the API for every year a school in the district
operated on a four-day school week. The information shall include,
but not necessarily be limited to, the base and growth API of each
school that operated on a four-day school week and whether that
school met the API growth targets.
7)Specific outcomes for pupils attending a school operating on a
four-day school week including, but not limited to, attendance
rates, graduation rates, college entrance and attendance rates,
and employment rates of pupils who do not attend college.
This bill contains an urgency clause as the authorization begins
with the 2013-14 fiscal year, and will sunset on June 30, 2018.
Moorpark College supports the bill and states, "The 4-day schedule
is beneficial both for students and teachers. The alternative
schedule allows more opportunities for students to take Friday
college classes, to interact with college-campus clubs, and to
participate in college activities."
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0001610