BILL ANALYSIS
AB 868
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 868 (V. Manuel Perez)
As Amended May 4, 2009
Majority vote
EDUCATION 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 14-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Nestande, Ammiano, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Arambula, | |Ammiano, |
| |Carter, Eng, Garrick, | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| |Miller, Solorio, | |Duvall, |
| |Torlakson | |Fuentes, Hall, Harkey, |
| | | |Price, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, Audra |
| | | |Strickland, |
| | | |Torlakson |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Palo Verde Unified School District
(PVUSD) to operate one or more schools in the 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. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that if any school in the PVUSD operating a four-day
school week fails to meet its Academic Performance Index (API)
growth target, 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 PVUSD'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
AB 868
Page 2
required under current law.
4)Specifies that if the PVUSD 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 Committee on Education and the Assembly Committee on
Education on January 15, 2015. The report shall include, but
not necessarily be limited to, information on the following:
a) Programs the PVUSD 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; and,
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
PVUSD.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, no additional cost to the state General Fund (GF).
There may be potential GF/Proposition 98 savings, if PVUSD's
base revenue limit is reduced (at the discretion of the SPI) due
to the district not meeting instructional minute and day
AB 868
Page 3
requirements.
COMMENTS : Prior to 1983, school districts were required to
operate schools for five days per week 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 seven districts to operate on a four-day school week.
According to 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.
According to the author, "Palo Verde Unified School District
(PVUSD) is a small school district with a current student
enrollment of 3,674 students. PVUSD is located in the City of
Blythe- a remote community with a population of about 8000. The
closest major cities are Yuma, Arizona (85 miles) and Palm
Springs, CA (110 miles).
"According to the City of Blythe's Planning Department, 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 4-day work week in order to reduce administrative and
operational costs. The majority of parents of students in Palo
Verde USD are working 4-day work weeks. Due to Blythe's rural
and remote location, parents often use their day-off to take
students to out of town medical appointments, for 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 school'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."
AB 868
Page 4
The PVUSD reports that for the 2008-09 fiscal year, the average
daily attendance (ADA) for Fridays is 92.85% district wide while
the weekly average ADA is at 94%. The PVUSD estimates losing
around $180,000 from the longer day, longer year incentive
funding, but anticipates making up the loss of funds through
increased ADA revenue. The PVUSD intends to increase an
elementary school day by 45 minutes and the secondary school day
by 79 minutes.
The provisions of AB 868 are virtually identical to AB 1889,
Chapter 661, Statutes of 2008, which authorizes the Potter
Valley Community Unified School District to operate a four-day
school week, except that AB 868 sunsets on January 1, 2016 while
AB 1889 sunsets on January 1, 2015.
Current law does not indicate the intent or reasons for
authorizing districts to operate one fewer day a week. Most of
the prior approvals were made due to climate and geographical
conditions that result in long and/or treacherous bus rides to
and from school. PVUSD is seeking a four-day school week
schedule to coordinate with parents' work schedules.
This bill, like other four-day school week bills, raises
important questions regarding the purpose for authorizing
four-day school week schedules. Should the Legislature limit
such authorizations to districts experiencing extreme climate
and geographical conditions? Are fiscal conditions or other
motivations such as coordinating parent work schedules good
policy reasons for eliminating one school day per week? In
order to meet minimum instructional time requirements, districts
operating a four-day school week schedule would have to lengthen
instructional time in a day. What are the effects of a longer
school day on pupils, teachers and parents? Would students
learn just as much with one extra hour per day for four days
versus a regular school day during the fifth day? What are the
impacts on pupils, teachers and parents on the day school is
closed? Do parents have child care for the day school is out?
Nationally, four-day school week schedules began in mostly rural
areas due to long travel time to and from school. There are
more than a dozen states that have experimented with a longer
day, shorter week schedule. Reports from those experiences have
been mixed.
AB 868
Page 5
AB 691 (Gilmore), pending in the Assembly, provides the same
four-day school week authorization to the Alpaugh Unified School
District.
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0000926