BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 691|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 691
Author: Gilmore (R), et al
Amended: 7/23/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/15/09
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Padilla,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-3, 5/28/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Alpaugh Unified School District: four-day
school week
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Alpaugh Unified School
District, beginning in the 2010-11 fiscal year, to operate
one or more schools in the school district on a four-day
school week if the District complies with the instructional
time requirements and other requirements for operating a
four-day school week.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes the Pacific Unified
School District, the Leggett Valley Unified School
District, the Reeds Creek Elementary School District, the
Potter Valley Community Unified School District, the
CONTINUED
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Borrego Springs Unified School District, the Julian Union
Elementary School District, the Julian Union High School
District, and the Warner Unified School District to operate
one or more schools in their districts on a four-day school
week, so long as those school districts comply with
specified requirements, including the annual provision of
at least 560 hours of instructional time for kindergarten,
700 hours of instructional time for grades 1, 2, and 3, and
845 hours of instructional time for grades 4 to 8,
inclusive.
This bill:
1. Provides that if any school in the Alpaugh Unified
School District (AUSD) operating a four-day school week
fails to meet its Academic Performance Index (API)
growth target for two consecutive years, the authority
of that school to operate a four-day school week shall
be permanently revoked.
2. Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to waive minimum time and five-consecutive-day
program operating requirements for preschools, before
and after school programs, independent study programs,
child nutrition and food service programs, community day
schools, regional occupational centers or programs, and
continuation high schools that operate on a four-day
school week.
3. Requires the SPI to reduce the AUSD's base revenue limit
funding by amounts the district received in
instructional time incentive funding, adjusted for
cost-of-living since the inception of the incentive, if
the district does not maintain 180 days in a school year
and provide the instructional time required under
current law.
4. Specifies that if the AUSD operates one or more schools
on a four-day school week, the school district shall
submit a report to the California Department of
Education (CDE), the Senate Education Committee and the
Assembly Education Committee on or before January 15,
2015. The report shall include, but not necessarily be
limited to, information on the following:
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A. Programs the AUSD 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.
D. Programs for which the SPI waived minimum time and
five-consecutive-day requirements and the operational
and educational effect of the programs if they
operated at less time than required.
E. Impact on city crime statistics where the schools
operating a four-day school week are located,
especially on the day on which there is no school.
F. Information on the API for every year schools in
the district operated a four-day school week,
including, but not necessarily limited to, the base
and growth API and whether the schools met API growth
targets.
5. Sunsets on January 1, 2016, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a statute enacted before January 1,
2016 deletes or extends that date.
6. Finds and declares that the enactment of special law is
necessary due to the unique circumstances applicable to
the AUSD.
Comments
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 (Hart),
Chapter 498, Statutes of 1983] offered incentive funding
for districts to offer 180 days of instruction each year.
Current law authorizes seven districts to operate on a
four-day school week. According to the CDE, only two
districts, Pacific Unified School District (Monterey
County) and Leggett Valley Unified School District
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(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.
This bill authorizes the AUSD to operate on a four-day
school week schedule. According to the AUSD, Alpaugh, an
agricultural community with a population of approximately
800, is located in the now-dry Tulare Lake Basin situated
between Interstate 5 and Hwy 99, roughly 55 miles northwest
of Bakersfield and 50 miles southwest of Visalia. The AUSD
has an enrollment of 350 students, 90 percent of whom are
Latino and 60 percent of whom are English Learners. The
AUSD does not have geographical or weather challenges that
prior districts that received similar authorization have.
The AUSD offers the following explanations for seeking a
four-day school week authorization:
1. Teacher recruitment and retention . According to the
AUSD, teacher recruitment and retention is a challenge.
The AUSD employs 22 teachers who live in nearby towns
between 20 to 60 miles away. In 2005-06, the teacher
turnover rate was 70 percent over a year's time, due to
mid-year departures, resignations, and non re-elects.
The four-day school week will reduce staff travel time
by 20 percent, result in less fuel expenses and wear and
tear on their vehicles, lower insurance rates, while
reducing greenhouse gasses and mitigating ongoing
pollution. The AUSD also believes a four-day school
week will attract teachers to work in the district.
Since January, the AUSD hired five new teachers who
cited the potential of a four-day school week as a
reason for their interest in teaching in the AUSD.
2. Reduce staff and pupil absences . The AUSD believes a
four-day school week will result in a decrease in staff
and pupil absenteeism, which would reduce expenses for
substitute teachers and increase average daily
attendance between two to three percent.
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3. Student preference . The districts surveyed students and
found that they prefer a four-day schedule, which would
enable them to complete school assignments, time to have
a job to support their families, time to spend with
their parents and siblings, and an additional day to
participate in other educational activities such as
college or career technical education.
4. Fiscal solution . Any savings generated from lower
utility bills, staff efficiency, and the reallocation of
resources is applied directly to the current and looming
funding shortfalls. The financial savings have the
potential to help offset the ongoing deficit the
district currently face, and help provide financial
stability.
According to the author, AUSD "faces challenges unique to
rural, small districts in our state ? Energy, food service
and transportation are costly while teacher recruitment and
retention is no easy feat. A four-day school week allows
rural districts such as Alpaugh to recruit and retain
educators by offering the benefit of a shortened week that
very few schools have the opportunity to do. The passage
of AB 691 will allow Alpaugh Unified School District to not
only save and [sic] estimated 20% in operating costs, but
provide an incentive for greater recruitment and retention
of teachers with its flexible, family-friendly schedule."
Related legislation . AB 868 (V. Manuel Perez) provides the
same four-day school week authorization to the Palo Verde
Unified School District. The bill is in the Senate
Education Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/09)
Alpaugh Unified School District
Association of California School Administrators
California School Board
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
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AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Brownley, Mendoza, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Huffman, Krekorian
DLW:mw 8/18/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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