BILL ANALYSIS
AB 868
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 868 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: May 4, 2009
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: NO
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Palo Verde Unified School District
(PVUSD), beginning in the 2010-11 fiscal year, to operate one or
more schools in the school district on a four-day school week
until January 1, 2016, if it complies with current instructional
time requirements. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the State Board of Education (SBE) to waive
five-consecutive-day operating requirements for specified
programs that operate on a four day week in PVUSD, as
specified.
2)Requires the SPI to reduce the PVUSD's base revenue limit
(general purpose funding) per average daily attendance (ADA),
if the school provides fewer than 180 days of instruction and
the school program provides fewer than the amount of
instructional minutes required.
3)Revokes the authority of PVUSD to operate a four-day school
week, if the district fails to achieve its Academic
Performance Index growth target each year.
4)Requires PVUSD to submit a report to the State Department of
Education (SDE) and the Legislature's education committees on
January 15, 2015, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
No additional cost to the state GF. There may be potential GF/98
savings, if PVUSD's base revenue limit is reduced (at the
discretion of the SPI) due to the district not meeting
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instructional minute and day requirements. According to SDE,
PVUSD received $20.2 million in GF/98 revenue limit (general
purpose) funding in 2007-08. This equates to approximately
$5,795 per ADA.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Prior to 1983, school districts were required to
operate school for 175 days of prescribed length per year. The
Hughes-Hart Educational Reform Act of 1983 (SB 813, Chapter
498, Statutes of 1983) offered school districts incentive
funding, if they offered 180 days of instruction per year or
lengthened school days by increasing instructional minutes.
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.
There are seven school districts currently authorized in
statute to operate one or more schools on a four-day school
week as long as they maintain 180 days of instruction per
year. If the school district fails to meet the 180 day
instructional requirement, the SPI is required to reduce the
district's revenue limit funding. However, according to the
SDE, only two of these school districts, Pacific Unified
School District (located in Monterey County) and Leggett
Valley Unified School District (located in Mendocino County)
operate a four-day school week. This bill will extend the
authorization for operating a four-day school week to PVUSD.
2)PVUSD , located in Riverside County, enrolls approximately
3,674 students in seven schools. The district is located in
the city of Blythe, a remote community located along the
border with Arizona with a population of approximately 8000.
The closest major cities are Yuma, AZ (85 miles) and Palm
Springs, CA (110 miles).
The author states: "There are four major employers in the city
of Blythe: two state prisons, the City of Blythe, the school
district, and the agricultural sector. The City of Blythe
reports that most employees of both state prisons and the City
of Blythe are now on a four-day work week in order to reduce
administrative and operational costs. The majority of parents
of students in PUSD are working a four-day work week. Due to
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Blythe's rural and remote location, parents often use their
day-off to take students to out of town medical appointments,
weekend trips, and/or to do family errands. As a result, the
district experiences high absentee rates on these days with
many students missing a full day of classroom instruction. The
result is lost hours of instruction and a decrease in the
district's ADA revenues. The school district would like to
move to a schedule that more closely reflects the local
employers' calendars in order to improve student attendance
with the ultimate goal of improved student achievement."
The committee notes that in previous legislation authorizing
school districts to offer four-day school weeks the reasons
cited were generally due to unique geographic circumstances
(i.e., pupils spending longer time on buses, climate, etc.)
and providing an educational benefit to the pupils. PVUSD
seeks authorization for a four-day school week primarily to
mitigate fiscal issues.
3)Related legislation .
a) AB 691 (Gilmore), pending in this committee, authorizes
the Alpaugh Unified School District to operate one or more
schools on a four-day school week.
b) AB 1889 (Berg), Chapter 661, Statues of 2008, authorized
the Potter Valley Community Unified School District to
operate one or more schools on a four-day school week, if
it complied with instructional time requirements.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081