Let Schools Swap Days for Hours

Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares that a number of schools nationwide have implemented a flexible school week schedule while still maintaining the statutorily required amount of instructional time. This type of flexibility has resulted in savings on such items as energy, transportation and substitute teacher costs, along with better attendance, less time lost to extracurricular activities, more opportunities for teacher training and appointments, and longer class periods for instructional time. Many of the districts in other states which have already implemented flexible school schedules tend to be smaller and rural with long transportation routes to and from schools, and with no other option to save costs other than to close schools or layoff staff. Given the fiscal crisis facing New York as well as rising fuel, energy, and transportation costs, a flexible school week schedule based on the equivalent hours of pupil instruction may offer schools operational flexibility without jeopardizing the amount of instructional time required by law.

New York state is without legal authority to operate less than one hundred eighty days of instruction without forfeiting state aid. The lack of operational flexibility in school districts, in particular regard to instructional days, is a problem largely unaddressed in state statute or regulation. A well-planned alternative school week schedule can be cost-effective, and can provide flexibility for those school districts in fiscal crisis, while maintaining a quality education.

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD01534-01-7

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Therefore, the legislature finds that enactment of this legislation is necessary and appropriate to make certain that school boards, after thorough review and public comment, have the discretion and authority to provide local school districts with operational flexibility to modify the number of instructional days per year, while maintaining the quality of education at the particular school or schools requesting a flexible school week schedule.

§ 2. Section 551 of the education law, as added by chapter 414 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:

§ 551. Apportionment. 1. In order to meet proper health, welfare and safety standards in qualifying schools for the benefit of the pupils enrolled therein, there shall be apportioned health, welfare and safety grants by the commissioner to each qualifying school for the school years beginning on and after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one, an amount equal to the product of thirty dollars multiplied by the average daily or equivalent hourly attendance of pupils receiving instruction in such school, to be applied for costs of maintenance and repair. Such apportionment shall be increased by ten dollars multiplied by the average daily or equivalent hourly attendance of pupils receiving instruction in a school building constructed prior to nineteen hundred forty-seven. In no event shall the per pupil annual allowance computed under this section exceed fifty per centum of the average per pupil cost of equivalent maintenance and repair in the public schools of the state on a state-wide basis, as determined by the commissioner, and in no event shall the apportionment to a qualifying school exceed the amount of expenditures for maintenance and repair of such school as reported pursuant to section five hundred fifty-two of this article.

2. The apportionment pursuant to this section shall be reduced by one one hundred eightieth for each day less than one hundred eighty days that such school was actually in total session in the base year, or a school failing to comply with the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction shall forfeit from its apportionment an amount determined by applying a ratio of the number of hours the school was in noncompliance in relation to the required minimum equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction, except that the commissioner may disregard such reduction up to five days or the equivalent number of hours if he finds that the school was not in session for one hundred eighty days or the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction because of extraordinary adverse weather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of water supply, shortage of fuel or the destruction of a school building, and if the commissioner further finds that such school cannot make up such days or the equivalent number of hours of instruction during the school year. No such reduction shall be made, however, for any day on which such school was in session for the purpose of administering the regents examinations or the regents scholarship examinations, or any day, not to exceed three days, or the equivalent number of hours when such school was not in session because of a conference of teachers called by the principal of the school.

§ 3. Subdivision 2 of section 1704 of the education law, as amended by chapter 543 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:

2. Except as otherwise provided by law, no board of education or community board in the city school district of the city of New York shall provide for a school year consisting of fewer than one hundred eighty days of school or the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction.

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§ 4. Paragraphs a and c of subdivision 2 of section 2117 of the education law, as added by chapter 744 of the laws of 1952, are amended to read as follows:

a. The whole time school has been maintained in their district during the year ending on June thirtieth previous to the date of such report, and stating what portion of the time such school has been taught by qualified teachers, and the whole number of days, or the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction, including holidays, in which the school was taught by qualified teachers.

c. The number of children taught in the district during such year by qualified teachers, and the aggregate days' or equivalent hours' attendance of all such children.

§ 5. The first undesignated paragraph of section 3107 of the education law, as amended by chapter 784 of the laws of 1961, is amended to read as follows:

In cities having a population of one million or more, employees of the board of education who are members of the New York city teachers' retirement system shall be granted sick leave due to personal illness. Such sick leave shall be on the basis of at least ten days for each year of service, cumulative to a maximum of two hundred days. Members shall upon application be granted a retirement leave of absence with full pay consisting of one-half of their accumulated unused sick leave, up to a maximum of one school term or the equivalent number of school days or the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction.

§ 6. Paragraph a of subdivision 4 of section 3204 of the education law is amended to read as follows:

a. A full time day school or class, except as otherwise prescribed, shall be in session for not less than one hundred ninety days each year, or the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction, inclusive of legal holidays that occur during the term of said school and exclusive of Saturdays.

§ 7. Paragraphs d, k and l of subdivision 1 of section 3602 of the education law, as amended by section 11 of part B of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, are amended to read as follows:

d. "Average daily attendance" shall mean the total number of attendance days or the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction of pupils in a public school of a school district in kindergarten through grade twelve, or equivalent ungraded programs, plus the total number of instruction days or the equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction for such pupils receiving homebound instruction including pupils receiving instruction through a two-way telephone communication system, divided by the number of days or equivalent hours the district school was in session as provided in this section. The attendance of pupils with disabilities attending under the provisions of paragraph c of subdivision two of section forty-four hundred one of this chapter shall be added to average daily or equivalent hourly attendance.

(1) Equivalent attendance shall mean the quotient of the total number of student hours of instruction in programs in a public school of a school district or a board of cooperative educational services leading to a high school diploma or a high school equivalency diploma as defined in regulations of the commissioner for pupils under the age of twentyone not on a regular day school register of the district, divided by one thousand. Average daily or equivalent hourly attendance shall include the equivalent attendance of the school district. For the purposes of secondary school weighting, such equivalent attendance shall be consid-

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ered as average daily or equivalent hourly attendance in grades seven through twelve.

(2) In computing average daily or equivalent hourly attendance, school districts may, with the commissioner's approval, exclude attendance for those days or equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction, on which school attendance was adversely affected because of an epidemic or manmade or natural disaster or act of terrorism. In computing such attendance, the school district shall: (i) determine the number of religious holidays which fall on a school day in which school is scheduled to be in session within a school year according to regulations established by the commissioner, such religious holidays to be duly recognized as such for purposes of this section by duly adopted resolution of the board of education; (ii) deduct the aggregate attendance on such religious holidays from the total aggregate attendance, by grade level; (iii) deduct such religious holidays from the total number of days or equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction of session, by grade level; and (iv) compute the average daily or equivalent hourly attendance for the school year.

k. "Attendance ratio" shall mean the number computed to four decimals without rounding when the aggregate days or equivalent hours attendance is divided by the possible aggregate attendance of all pupils in attendance in the district, as computed for each school district by the commissioner by June first of the year following the attendance year.

l. "Average daily membership" shall mean the possible aggregate attendance of all pupils in attendance in a public school of the school district in kindergarten through grade twelve, or equivalent ungraded programs, including possible aggregate attendance for such pupils receiving homebound instruction, including pupils receiving instruction through a two-way telephone communication system, with the possible aggregate attendance of such pupils in one-half day kindergartens multiplied by one-half, divided by the number of days or equivalent number of hours of pupil instruction the district school was in session as provided in this section. The full time equivalent enrollment of pupils with disabilities attending under the provisions of paragraph c of subdivision two of section forty-four hundred one of this chapter shall be added to average daily or equivalent hourly membership. Average daily or equivalent hourly membership shall include the equivalent attendance of the school district, as computed pursuant to paragraph d of this subdivision. In any instance where a pupil is a resident of another state or an Indian pupil is a resident of any portion of a reservation located wholly or partly within the borders of the state pursuant to subdivision four of section forty-one hundred one of this chapter or a pupil is living on federally owned land or property, such pupil's possible aggregate attendance shall be counted as part of the possible aggregate attendance of the school district in which such pupil is enrolled.

§ 8. Paragraphs a and b of subdivision 2 of section 3602 of the education law, as amended by section 13 of part B of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, are amended to read as follows:

a. Computation of resident weighted average daily or equivalent hourly attendance. For purposes of this section weighted average daily or equivalent hourly attendance of a school district for any school year shall be computed as follows:

(1) Weighted average daily or equivalent hourly attendance shall be determined by using the average daily or equivalent hourly attendance of public school pupils in a full-day kindergarten and grades one through

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six as the basic unit, with the attendance of such pupils in one-half day kindergartens measured at one-half of such basic unit and the attendance of such pupils in grades seven through twelve measured at one and one-quarter of such basic unit. The sum of all such units of attendance shall be the weighted average daily or equivalent hourly attendance.