PRINTER'S NO. 1673
No. 1354 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY LaGROTTA, DeWEESE, BEBKO-JONES, DALEY, SHANER,
MYERS, BUNT, FABRIZIO, YOUNGBLOOD, HENNESSEY, LAUGHLIN,
GEIST, JAMES, McILHATTAN, PHILLIPS, WANSACZ, WASHINGTON AND
S. MILLER, MAY 6, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MAY 6, 2003
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," providing for weather emergency.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 1501.7 of the act of March 10, 1949
9 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is
10 repealed.
11 Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
12 Section 1501.8. Weather Emergency of 2003.--(a) This
13 section applies only to the school year 2002-2003 as a result of
14 the weather emergency of 2003.
15 (b) All school entities shall keep open for at least one
16 hundred eighty (180) days of instruction for students by using
17 all available days through June 30, 2003, and by using the
18 provisions of this section and section 1502(c).
1 (c) As an alternative to providing one hundred eighty (180)
2 days of instruction, the Secretary of Education shall authorize,
3 without need of application, each school entity to have the
4 option of computing instructional time on an hourly basis,
5 rather than a daily basis, of nine hundred (900) hours for
6 elementary and nine hundred ninety (990) hours for secondary
7 schools. Each school entity which elects to compute
8 instructional time on an hourly basis shall submit documentation
9 to the Secretary of Education verifying the completion of the
10 required hours of instruction.
11 (d) For purposes of computing instructional time pursuant to
12 this section, the Secretary of Education shall calculate
13 instructional days or time related to the weather emergency of
14 2003 prior to calculating any other lost instructional time.
15 (e) The chief commissioned officer of a school district,
16 intermediate unit or area vocational-technical school shall upon
17 the written request of a parent or guardian excuse any student
18 from school attendance if such student has the opportunity to
19 receive a program of advanced instruction, to participate in
20 academic or skills competition or to engage in leadership
21 development activities. The request shall identify and describe
22 the instruction, competition or leadership development
23 activities and the dates and hours for which the absence is
24 requested. The parent or guardian shall following each such
25 absence furnish in writing to the chief commissioned officer a
26 statement attesting to the student's participation, including
27 the dates and hours of such participation.
28 (f) The chief commissioned officer of a school district,
29 intermediate unit or area vocational-technical school shall
30 excuse a student to observe or participate in a religious
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1 activity or function upon the written notification of such
2 observance or participation by the student's parent or guardian.
3 A student's absence from school pursuant to this subsection
4 shall be considered an instructional day and shall not be
5 recorded as an absence on the student's attendance record or on
6 the record of any group or class of which the student is a
7 member. There shall be no penalty attached for any such absences
8 pursuant to this subsection.
9 (g) No temporary professional or professional employe of any
10 school closed by reason of the weather emergency of 2003 shall
11 receive more or less compensation than that to which the employe
12 would otherwise have been entitled to receive from the school
13 entity had the weather emergency of 2003 not occurred.
14 (h) No school entity which was closed because of the weather
15 emergency of 2003 and which makes a good faith effort, as
16 determined by the Secretary of Education, to meet the
17 requirements of this section shall receive less subsidy payments
18 or reimbursements than it would otherwise be entitled to receive
19 for the school year 2002-2003 had the weather emergency of 2003
20 not occurred.
21 (i) As used in this section, a school entity shall be any
22 school district, intermediate unit, joint school or area
23 vocational-technical school a child attends in order to fulfill
24 the compulsory attendance requirements of this act.
25 (j) If a school entity which has entered into an out-of-
26 State tuition agreement with an out-of-State school district
27 conforms with the provisions of the instructional time
28 authorized by the other state, the requirements of this section
29 shall be deemed to be complied with as it applies to the
30 students who are covered by the out-of-State tuition agreement.
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1 Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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