SB 589

Under current law, each school district must hold school for 180 days each

school term and must schedule at least 437 hours of direct pupil instruction in

kindergarten, at least 1,050 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades one to six, and

at least 1,137 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades seven to twelve. With some

exceptions, the state superintendent must withhold state aid from a school district

if the school district fails to hold school for 180 days. If, however, a school district

holds less than 180 days of school as a result of a strike by school district employees,

instead of withholding state aid from the school district, the amount of state aid is

reduced to account for the amount of shared costs not incurred by the school district

as a result of the strike.

This bill eliminates the requirement that a school district hold school for 180

days each year. The bill replaces the requirement that the state superintendent

withhold state aid from a school district that fails to hold school for 180 days with a

requirement that the state superintendent withhold state aid from a school district

that fails to provide the hours of direct pupil instruction specified above.

Current law permits a school district to receive state aid for pupils who enroll

in academic summer classes and laboratory periods offered by the school district if

the state superintendent has determined that the classes are necessary for academic

purposes. Current law also permits a school district to include in its revenue limit

calculation a portion of the summer class enrollment for such necessary, academic

classes and laboratory periods.

This bill permits a school district that provides year-round school to receive

state aid for pupils who enroll in interim session classes and laboratory periods

offered by the school district if the state superintendent has determined that the

classes are necessary for academic purposes, and to include a portion of the interim

class enrollment for such necessary, academic classes and laboratory periods in its

revenue limit calculation. The bill defines "interim session" to mean a period of time

in a school year when school is held by a school in a school district to provide direct

pupil instruction.

This bill also permits a school district to receive state aid for and include in its

revenue limit calculations a portion of the summer class enrollment and interim

session enrollment of high school pupils and pupils in the seventh and eighth grades

who complete an online summer class offered by the school district if all of the

following conditions are satisfied: 1) the pupil either resides in the school district

that offers the online class or is enrolled in that school district through the open

enrollment program; 2) a high school pupil receives credit for completing the online

class and a pupil in the seventh or eighth grade successfully completes the class; and

3) the school board of the school district that offers the online class has determined

that the class fulfills a prerequisite to the receipt of a high school diploma.