Legislature(2003 - 2004)
02/17/2004 11:03 AM House EDU
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 390-LENGTH OF SCHOOL TERM
[Contains discussion of SB 239.]
Number 0977
CHAIR GATTO announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 390, "An Act relating to the required number of
days in a school year."
CHAIR GATTO, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of HB 390, told
the members that if this bill could be spoken of in a single
word, it would be "flexibility." He told the members that the
Anchorage Police Department went from a 40-hour week, using
five, eight-hour days, and moved to four, ten-hour days. It was
a change that was welcomed by the police and has been
successful. In looking at the schools, HB 390 allows school
districts to look at school terms in a more flexible manner.
Chair Gatto told the members that current law requires 180 days
of school; however, if approved by the Commissioner of the
Department of Education and Early Development, school districts
would be allowed to adjust their school terms within statute to
meet the needs of their students, teachers, families, and
location. He said that rather than focusing on the number of
days, the focus would be on the amount of attendance. Recently,
an Anchorage charter school proposed a plan to the Anchorage
School Board for something less than 180 days. This plan was
approved in concept, but is now on hold pending the passage of
this legislation, he said. The increased flexibility provides
for a stronger focus on academic performance instead of just
accounting for seat time.
Number 0835
CHAIR GATTO said that while allowing for a four-day week is not
the specific intent of HB 390, passage would provide for
meaningful dialogue on this and other plans. This bill would
specifically effect boarding and residential students by
allowing them a flexible schedule. Year round schools could
also be introduced, he remarked. This bill is supported by the
superintendents of the Anchorage School District and the
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
Number 0833
REPRESENTATIVE OGG moved to report HB 390, 23-LS1522\A out of
committee with individual recommendations, and the accompanying
fiscal notes.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON objected to the motion for purposes of
discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON shared that her niece and niece's husband,
who are teachers in Colorado, work a four-day workweek. The
response from teachers and the administration has been very
positive. The district likes it because of the flexibility [in
hours] and it has been shown to save money.
CHAIR GATTO pointed out that this bill does not mandate or
require anything, it only allows for flexibility. There have
been some studies on the savings of a four-day school week and
the savings have been shown to be much less than anticipated.
He remembers from personal experience that when his son is
traveling with the basketball team, there will be a missed
school day, usually Friday. He said that is what he believes is
behind some of the drive for the bill. If a school is on the
road system, they can travel early, or if it is necessary to
fly, it provides for a make up if the plane is late getting in.
There are many reasons the school districts would love this
flexibility, he commented, but it is not a requirement.
Number 0661
MR. SWEENEY told the members that the Department of Education
and Early Development testified on the senate version of this
bill. There were a couple of suggestions that could make the
bill a bit stronger, but over all the department agrees with the
intent of the bill in allowing some flexibility in school
districts to look at innovative ideas in calendaring. There are
still some checks and balances in that the school board must
approve the plan and the commissioner of the Department of
Education and Early Development must also approve the plan.
MR. SWEENEY referred to the new version of SB 239 [the companion
bill to HB 390, offered in the senate]. The department wanted
to have some sort of minimum proposed. The problem, he said, is
that while it says the approximate educational equivalent in a
180-day term, it does not define that it has to be 180 days
worth of hours. The commissioner was concerned that there would
be a huge range of interpretations on the equivalent of 180 days
worth of education. Mr. Sweeney told the members that the
department came up with 144 days, because if a district went to
a four-day workweek schedule, four-fifths of 180 is 144 days.
MR. SWEENEY commented that there was some confusion with respect
to school employee wages as discussed in one section of the
bill. It was determined that the drafter who wrote the bill for
the senate version thought that this bill dealt with contracts
and used language to make it more uniform. There was a lot of
confusion about that language and the department did not know
how that impacted current contracts and contract negotiations.
Upon looking at this point further, it was determined it would
be better to leave that up to the [individual] contracts as they
are negotiated. He emphasized that the removal of this language
would not impact the districts' ability to come up with
innovative scheduling plans.
Number 0436
CHAIR GATTO agreed with Mr. Sweeney's comments. He told the
members that he would support amending the bill to remove that
language and have the bill's language agree with the senate
version.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked for clarification of the language on
page 1, subsection (4)(A) of [SB 239, the senate version of HB
390], which reads as follows:
(A) the school board has submitted an acceptable plan
...
Number 0311
MR. SWEENEY replied that the way he and the commissioner
envision this working is that the school district would come up
with a plan at the beginning of the school year. The district
would layout the new calendar, which doesn't meet the 180-day
requirement the district use to have, and show what will be done
to meet the same education equivalent of the old school year.
He pointed out that the school board would have to approve the
plan before it is sent to the commissioner, and the commissioner
would have to approve it as well.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON commented that the language in the senate
version does not reflect that the new calendar would have to be
acceptable to the commissioner of [the Department of Education
and Early Development].
MR. SWEENEY pointed to HB 390, page 2, lines 3 and 4, where it
says "the school board adopts a different school term for a
school if the commissioner finds that the school board..." He
summarized that the school board must submit a plan of no less
than 144 days, and the commissioner must find that the students
are still going to get the equivalent of 180 days of education.
CHAIR GATTO told the members that he would entertain amendments
to HB 390 that would incorporate the changes suggested by the
Department of Education and Early Development, and which were
made to the senate bill [SB 239].
Number 0203
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON clarified that the text in brackets on
page 2, lines 3 and 4 was deleted. She moved Amendment 1 as
follows:
Page 2, lines 3
After the words "school term"
Insert "of not less than 144 days"
There being no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved Amendment 2 which she explained
would allow for the completion of the previous sentence on line
4. The amendment is as follows:
On page 2, line 5
Delete "(A)"
[Due to technical difficulties, the following was not taped but
was reconstructed from the recording secretary's log notes.]
There being no objection, Amendment 2 was adopted.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved Amendment 3 as follows:
On page 2, delete lines 8 through 10
There being no objection, Amendment 3 was adopted.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON removed his objection.
REPRESENTATIVE OGG moved to report HB 390, 23-LS1522\A, as
amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and
the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB
390(EDU) was reported out of the House Special Committee on
Education.
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