PRINTER'S NO. 1426
No. 1154 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY REIBMAN, JULY 7, 1989
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JULY 7, 1989
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," increasing the minimum number of
6 school days and school hours per school year; providing for
7 flexible year-round programs; and providing for additional
8 payments to districts offering educational programs
9 throughout the entire year.
10 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
11 hereby enacts as follows:
12 Section 1. Section 1327(b) of the act of March 10, 1949
13 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,
14 amended December 15, 1986 (P.L.1602, No.178), is amended to
15 read:
16 Section 1327. Compulsory School Attendance.--* * *
17 (b) A child enrolled in a day school which is operated by a
18 bona fide church or other religious body, and the parent,
19 guardian or other person having control or charge of any such
20 child or children of compulsory school age shall be deemed to
21 have met the requirements of this section if that school
1 provides a minimum of [one hundred eighty (180)] two hundred
2 (200) days of instruction or [nine hundred (900)] one thousand
3 (1,000) hours of instruction per year at the elementary level or
4 [nine hundred ninety (990)] one thousand one hundred (1,100)
5 hours per year of instruction at the secondary level and:
6 (1) At the elementary school level, the following courses
7 are taught: English, to include spelling, reading and writing;
8 arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and
9 Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including regular and
10 continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires;
11 health and physiology; physical education; music; and art.
12 (2) At the secondary school level, the following courses are
13 offered: English, to include language, literature, speech and
14 composition; science, to include biology and chemistry;
15 geography; social studies, to include civics, economics, world
16 history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania; a
17 foreign language; mathematics, to include general mathematics
18 and statistics, algebra and geometry; art; music; physical
19 education; health and physiology; and safety education,
20 including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and
21 prevention of fires.
22 The requirements contained in sections 1511 and 1605 of this act
23 shall not apply to such schools. The notarized affidavit of the
24 principal of any such school, filed with the Department of
25 Education and setting forth that such subjects are offered in
26 the English language in such school, whether it is a nonprofit
27 organization, and that such school is otherwise in compliance
28 with the provisions of this act, shall be satisfactory and
29 sufficient evidence thereof. It is the policy of the
30 Commonwealth to preserve the primary right and the obligation of
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1 the parent or parents, or person or persons in loco parentis to
2 a child, to choose the education and training for such child.
3 Nothing contained in this act shall empower the Commonwealth,
4 any of its officers, agencies or subdivisions to approve the
5 course content, faculty, staff or disciplinary requirements of
6 any religious school referred to in this section without the
7 consent of said school.
8 * * *
9 Section 2. Section 1327.1(c) of the act, added December 21,
10 1988 (P.L.1321, No.169), is amended to read:
11 Section 1327.1. Home Education Program.--* * *
12 (c) A child who is enrolled in a home education program and
13 whose education is therefore under the direct supervision of his
14 parent, guardian or other person having legal custody shall be
15 deemed to have met the requirements of section 1327 if that home
16 education program provides a minimum of [one hundred eighty
17 (180)] two hundred (200) days of instruction or [nine hundred
18 (900)] one thousand (1,000) hours of instruction per year at the
19 elementary level, or [nine hundred ninety (990)] one thousand
20 one hundred (1,100) hours per year at the secondary level:
21 (1) At the elementary school level, the following courses
22 shall be taught: English, to include spelling, reading and
23 writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United
24 States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including
25 regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention
26 of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and
27 art.
28 (2) At the secondary school level, the following courses
29 shall be taught: English, to include language, literature,
30 speech and composition; science; geography; social studies, to
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1 include civics, world history, history of the United States and
2 Pennsylvania; mathematics, to include general mathematics,
3 algebra and geometry; art; music; physical education; health;
4 and safety education, including regular and continuous
5 instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires. Such courses
6 of study may include, at the discretion of the supervisor of the
7 home education program, economics; biology; chemistry; foreign
8 languages; trigonometry; or other age-appropriate courses as
9 contained in Chapter 5 (Curriculum Requirements) of the State
10 Board of Education.
11 * * *
12 Section 3. Section 1501 of the act, amended June 30, 1980
13 (P.L.279, No.80), is amended to read:
14 Section 1501. Minimum Number of Days; School Month.--All
15 public kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools shall be
16 kept open each school year for at least [one hundred eighty
17 (180)] two hundred (200) days of instruction for pupils. No days
18 on which the schools are closed shall be counted as days taught,
19 and no time shall be counted as a pupil session for any activity
20 to which admission is charged. No school district shall be
21 required to change its graduation schedule or require graduating
22 students to return to school after graduation to make up class
23 days lost due to severe weather conditions or, in the school
24 year 1979-1980 for situations beyond the control of the school
25 district as a result of major construction and renovation to the
26 school building. No district which makes a bona fide effort as
27 determined by the Secretary of Education to provide [one hundred
28 eighty (180)] two hundred (200) days of instruction for
29 graduating students shall receive less subsidy payments or
30 reimbursements than it would otherwise be entitled to receive on
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1 account of the school year because of the provisions of this
2 section. Unless otherwise provided by this act, the board of
3 school directors in any district or joint board may keep such
4 other schools or departments as it may establish open during
5 such time as it may direct.
6 Twenty days of actual teaching shall constitute a school
7 month.
8 Section 4. Section 1504(a) of the act, amended July 1, 1978
9 (P.L.575, No.105), is amended to read:
10 Section 1504. Dates and Times of School Terms and Sessions;
11 Commencement.--(a) The board of school directors of each school
12 district shall fix the date of the beginning of the school term.
13 Unless otherwise determined by the board, the daily session of
14 school shall open at nine ante-meridian and close at four post-
15 meridian, with an intermission of one hour at noon, and an
16 intermission of fifteen minutes in the forenoon and in the
17 afternoon. Upon request of a board of school directors for an
18 exception to the aforesaid daily schedule, the Secretary of
19 Education may, when in his opinion a meritorious educational
20 program warrants, approve a school week containing a minimum of
21 twenty seven and one-half hours of instruction as the equivalent
22 of five (5) school days, or a school year containing a minimum
23 of [nine hundred ninety] one thousand one hundred (1,100) hours
24 of instruction at the secondary level or [nine hundred (900)]
25 one thousand (1,000) hours of instruction at the elementary
26 level as the equivalent of [one hundred eighty (180)] two
27 hundred (200) school days. Professional and temporary
28 professional employes shall be allowed a lunch period free of
29 supervisory or other duties of at least thirty minutes. The
30 provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to repeal
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1 any rule or regulation of any board of school directors now in
2 effect which provides for a lunch period longer than the minimum
3 prescribed herein or to repeal any action of any board of school
4 directors taken in compliance with section 7 of the act of July
5 25, 1913 (P.L.1024, No.466), entitled "An act to protect the
6 public health and welfare, by regulating the employment of
7 females in certain establishments, with respect to their hours
8 of labor and the conditions of their employment; by establishing
9 certain sanitary regulations in the establishments in which they
10 work; by requiring certain abstracts and notices to be posted;
11 by providing for the enforcement of this act by the Commissioner
12 of Labor and Industry and others; by prescribing penalties for
13 violations thereof; by defining the procedure in prosecutions;
14 and by repealing all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with
15 the provisions thereof," as amended.
16 * * *
17 Section 5. Section 2502 of the act is amended by adding a
18 subsection to read:
19 Section 2502. Payments on Account of Instruction.--* * *
20 (i) (1) For the school year commencing July 1, 1990, and
21 for each school year thereafter, the Secretary of Education may,
22 at his discretion, preapprove flexible year-round programs of
23 operations which conform to policies and regulations established
24 by the State Board of Education.
25 (2) Year-round programs may include a fully reimbursable
26 school year for pupils of less than two hundred (200) days of
27 instruction, provided that the total hours of instruction are
28 equivalent to one thousand one hundred (1,100) hours of
29 instruction at the secondary level or one thousand (1,000) hours
30 at the elementary level.
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1 (3) Year-round programs may include a school year for pupils
2 in excess of two hundred (200) days of instruction and shall
3 qualify for an additional reimbursement on account of both
4 instruction and necessary transportation for such excess days of
5 instruction for pupils.
6 (4) The Secretary of Education shall not preapprove programs
7 for additional reimbursement exceeding the total amount
8 specifically appropriated for this purpose by the General
9 Assembly.
10 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 1990.
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