S 65 Session 125 (2023-2024) S 0065 General Bill, By Malloy A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 59-1-425, RELATING TO THE STATUTORY SCHOOL YEAR, SO AS TO REMOVE REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING THE SPECIFIC NUMBER OF DAYS THAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN A SCHOOL YEAR, TO PROVIDE THAT A DISTRICT SHALL REPORT THE SCHOOL CALENDAR THAT IT SELECTS TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, ALONG WITH A RATIONALE BEHIND THE STRUCTURE OF THE CALENDAR, TO PROVIDE THAT A LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD SHALL FOCUS ON STRUCTURING ITS CALENDAR TO MAXIMIZE THE EDUCATIONAL BENEFIT IN THE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH SCHOOL, AND TO SET FORTH REQUIREMENTS FOR A SCHOOL THAT WISHES TO OPERATE ON A MODIFIED YEAR-ROUND CALENDAR. A bill to amend the South Carolina Code of Laws by amending Section 59-1-425, relating to THE STATUTORY SCHOOL YEAR, so as to REMOVE REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING THE SPECIFIC NUMBER OF DAYS THAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN A SCHOOL YEAR, TO PROVIDE THAT A DISTRICT SHALL REPORT THE SCHOOL CALENDAR THAT IT SELECTS TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, ALONG WITH A RATIONALE BEHIND THE STRUCTURE OF THE CALENDAR, TO PROVIDE THAT A LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD SHALL FOCUS ON STRUCTURING ITS CALENDAR TO MAXIMIZE THE EDUCATIONAL BENEFIT IN THE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH SCHOOL, AND TO SET FORTH REQUIREMENTS FOR A SCHOOL THAT WISHES TO OPERATE ON A MODIFIED YEAR-ROUND CALENDAR. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina: SECTION 1. Section 59-1-425 of the S.C. Code is amended to read: Section 59-1-425. (A) A local school district board of trustees of the State has the authority to establish an annual (B) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, all school days missed because of snow, extreme weather conditions, or other disruptions requiring schools to close must be made up. All school districts shall designate (C)(1) The State Board of Education may waive the requirements of making up days beyond the three days forgiven by the local school district, not to exceed three additional days missed because of snow, extreme weather conditions, or other disruptions requiring schools to close. Such a waiver only may be considered and granted upon the request of the local board of trustees through a majority vote of that local school board. The State Department (1)(a) days missed and the reason, regardless of whether any were missed; (2)(b) days made up; and (3)(c) days waived. (2) If requesting to operate on a year-round modified school calendar, a school shall submit to the State Board of Education a plan detailing student achievement goals that the school seeks to achieve by operating on a year-round modified school calendar. This plan must be approved by the State Board. The school shall (D) If a school is closed early due to snow, extreme weather conditions, or other disruptions, the day may count towards the required minimum to the extent allowed by State Board of Education policy. (E) The instructional day for secondary students must be at a minimum six hours a day, or its equivalent weekly, excluding lunch. The school day for elementary students must be at a minimum six hours a day, or its equivalent weekly, including lunch. (F) Elementary and secondary schools may reduce the length of the instructional day to not less than three hours for not more than three days each school year for staff development, teacher conferences, or for the purpose of administering end-of-semester and end-of-year examinations. (G) Priority during the instructional day must be given to teaching and learning tasks. Class interruptions must be limited only to emergencies. Volunteer blood drives as determined by the principal may be conducted at times which would not interfere with classroom instruction such as study period, lunch period, and before and after school. (H) The State Board of Education may waive the school opening date requirement pursuant to subsection (A) of this section on a showing of good cause or for an educational purpose. For the purposes of this section: (1) 'Good cause' means that schools in a district have been closed eight days per year during any four of the last ten years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, or other emergency situations. (2) 'Educational purpose' means a district establishes a need to adopt a different calendar for a: (a) specific school to accommodate a special program offered generally to the student body of that school, (b) school that primarily serves a special population of students, or (c) defined program within a school. The state board may grant the waiver for an educational purpose for that specific school or defined program to the extent that the state board finds that the educational purpose is reasonable, the accommodation is necessary to accomplish the educational purpose, and the request is not an attempt to circumvent the opening date set forth in this subsection. Waiver requests for educational purposes may not be used to accommodate system-wide class scheduling preferences. Nothing in this subsection prohibits a district from offering supplemental or additional educational programs or activities outside of the calendar adopted under this section. SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. ----XX---- |