BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 691
AUTHOR: Gilmore
AMENDED: May 4, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: July 15, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Alpaugh Unified School District: four-day school
week.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes schools within the Alpaugh Unified
School District to operate a four-day school week, beginning
in the 2010-11 fiscal year, if the participating schools
comply with existing minimum instructional time requirements
and meet their Academic Performance Index growth targets.
BACKGROUND
Prior to 1983, school districts were required to operate
schools for five days a week and 175 days per year. The
Hughes-Hart Educational Reform Act of 1983 (SB 813, Chapter
498, 1983) offered incentive funding for districts to offer
180 days of instruction each year. These incentives were
provided in order to avoid the higher mandated costs that
would have resulted from requiring a longer school year and
day. However, almost every school district elected to accept
the incentives and operate school for at least 180 days.
Current law authorizes eight districts to operate on a
four-day school week. According to the California Department
of Education (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. Pacific Unified's school year is 148
days and Leggett Valley operates between 142 and 166 days
depending on the grade level. The other districts, despite
having received authorization, have chosen to continue
operating on a five-day school week schedule. The Potter
Valley Community Unified School District, which is
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statutorily authorized to operate a four-day week, has a
request before the State Board of Education's July 2009
meeting to allow the district to continue their After School
Education and Safety program on the fifth day of the week at
a specific elementary school within that district.
ANALYSIS
This bill authorizes schools within the Alpaugh Unified
School District to operate a four-day school week, beginning
in the 2010-11 fiscal year, if the participating schools
comply with existing minimum instructional time requirements
and meet their Academic Performance Index growth targets.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
reduce the base revenue limit for the Alpaugh Unified
School District if the district operates schools 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 school to operate
a four-day week if a small school with between 11 and 99
valid STAR test scores fails to achieve its Academic
Performance Index (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 Alpaugh Unified School District, if it
operates any schools 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, 2015. This bill requires the
report to include:
a) Programs the district offered on the fifth 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.
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d) Programs for which the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) 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 statistics, especially on the fifth day when
school is not in operation.
f) Information on the API for every year a school
in the Alpaugh Unified School District operated on
a four-day week, including but not limited to:
i) The base and growth API of each
school that operated a four-day week.
ii) Whether that school met the API
growth targets.
4) Authorizes the State Board of Education to waive
existing requirements to operate any of the following
programs that operate on a four-day week
5) pursuant to this bill (the district must continue to
meet the minimum time requirements for each program):
a) Preschools.
b) Before and after school programs.
c) Independent study programs.
d) Child nutrition and food service programs.
e) Community day schools.
f) Regional occupational centers or programs.
g) Continuation high schools.
6) Sunsets the authority for the Alpaugh Unified School
District to operate a four-day school week on January 1,
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2016.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Effects of a four-day school week . Several research
studies have been conducted and found that by operating
on a four-day week the following positive effects were
realized by school districts:
a) Schools can save money on costs of
transportation, but must reduce or eliminate
transportation for extra-curricular activities on
non-school days.
b) Schools can save money on utility costs, but
only if utilities are not used on non-school days.
c) Schools can save money on costs of food
services.
d) Teacher and pupil absenteeism is reduced, thereby
reducing the need to pay for substitute teachers.
The effects on pupil achievement are negligible.
The research also details some concerns with operating a
four-day school week:
a) The need for parents to find full-day child
care on the non-school day.
b) The possibility of pupil fatigue, particularly
for younger pupils. Some schools have responded to
this concern by putting the bulk of the academic
work into the earlier parts of the day.
c) A three-day break creates additional barriers
for at-risk pupils, although there is limited
research to support this claim.
1) Two conditions . This bill mirrors recent legislation
(AB 1889, Berg, Chapter 661, 2008) that, for the first
time, imposed upon schools that were authorized to
operate a four-day week both the conditions to meet
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minimum minutes per day and minimum days per year
requirements and to meet Academic Performance Index
(API) growth targets. School districts that were
authorized to offer a four-day school week prior to 2008
are only required to meet minimum instructional minutes
and days requirements or meet API growth targets.
2) Technical amendment needed . This bill requires the
Alpaugh Unified School District, if it operates schools
on a four-day week, to report specific information,
including programs for which the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) waived minimum time and
five-consecutive-day requirements. The SPI does not
have the authority to grant such waivers; the State
Board of Education has that authority. Therefore, staff
recommends an amendment to replace this reference to the
SPI with the State Board of Education.
3) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, this bill would not impose
additional costs upon the General Fund. There are
potential General Fund (Prop) 98 savings if the base
revenue limit of the Alpaugh Unified School District is
reduced due to non-compliance with minimum instructional
minutes and days requirements.
4) Related legislation . AB 868 (V. Manuel Perez) is nearly
identical to this bill but affects the Palo Verde
Unified School District (Riverside County). AB 868 is a
two-year bill at the request of the author.
5) Prior legislation . AB 1889 (Berg, Chapter 661, 2008)
authorized the Potter Valley Community Unified School
District (Mendocino County) to operate a four-day school
week.
SUPPORT
Alpaugh Unified School District
Association of California School Administrators
Small School Districts' Association
OPPOSITION
None received.
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