House Study Bill 276 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WHEELER) A BILL FOR An Act modifying provisions related to the minimum amount 1 of instruction provided to students enrolled in school 2 districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, 3 and innovation zone schools. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 2925YC (2) 91 jda/jh
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 19, unnumbered 1 paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: 2 For a school or school district with a school calendar 3 measuring instructional time in days pursuant to section 4 279.10, subsection 1 , define Define the minimum school day for 5 a school or school district as a day consisting of six hours of 6 instructional time for grades one through twelve. The minimum 7 hours shall be exclusive of the lunch period, but may include 8 passing time between classes. Time spent on parent-teacher 9 conferences shall be considered instructional time. A school 10 or school district may record a day of school with less than 11 the minimum instructional hours as a minimum school day if any 12 of the following apply: 13 Sec. 2. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, paragraph h, Code 14 2025, is amended to read as follows: 15 h. Provide instruction for at least the number of days 16 or hours required by section 279.10, subsection 1 , unless 17 specifically waived by the state board as part of the 18 application process. 19 Sec. 3. Section 256F.4, subsection 5, Code 2025, is amended 20 to read as follows: 21 5. A charter school or innovation zone school shall provide 22 instruction for at least the number of days or hours required 23 by section 279.10, subsection 1 . 24 Sec. 4. Section 279.10, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended 25 to read as follows: 26 1. The school year for each school district and accredited 27 nonpublic school shall begin on July 1 and the school calendar 28 shall begin no sooner than August 23 and no later than the 29 first Monday in December. The school calendar shall include 30 not less than one hundred eighty days or one thousand eighty 31 hours of instruction during the calendar year, of which not 32 more than five days or thirty hours of instruction may be 33 delivered primarily over the internet except as otherwise 34 provided in section 256.43 or in rules adopted by the state 35 -1- LSB 2925YC (2) 91 jda/jh 1/ 4
H.F. _____ board of education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 32 . 1 The board of directors of a school district and the authorities 2 in charge of an accredited nonpublic school shall determine the 3 school start date for the school calendar in accordance with 4 this subsection and shall set the number of days or hours of 5 required attendance for the school year as provided in section 6 299.1, subsection 2 , but the board of directors of a school 7 district shall hold a public hearing on any proposed school 8 calendar prior to adopting the school calendar. If the board 9 of directors of a district or the authorities in charge of an 10 accredited nonpublic school extends the school calendar because 11 inclement weather caused the school district or accredited 12 nonpublic school to temporarily close during the regular school 13 calendar, the school district or accredited nonpublic school 14 may excuse a graduating senior who has met district or school 15 requirements for graduation from attendance during the extended 16 school calendar. A school corporation may begin employment 17 of personnel for in-service training and development purposes 18 before the date to begin elementary and secondary school. 19 Sec. 5. Section 299.1, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2025, 20 is amended to read as follows: 21 a. The board of directors of a public school district or the 22 governing body of an accredited nonpublic school shall set the 23 number of days or hours of required attendance for the schools 24 under its control. 25 Sec. 6. Section 299.8, Code 2025, is amended to read as 26 follows: 27 299.8 Truant defined. 28 Any child of compulsory attendance age, to whom the 29 exceptions described in section 299.1, subsection 4 , paragraph 30 b , or section 299.2 do not apply, who has been absent from 31 school, for any reason, for at least twenty percent of the days 32 or hours in the grading period, shall be deemed to be a truant. 33 A finding that a child is truant, however, shall not by itself 34 mean that the child is a child in need of assistance within the 35 -2- LSB 2925YC (2) 91 jda/jh 2/ 4
H.F. _____ meaning of chapter 232 and shall not be the sole basis for a 1 child in need of assistance petition. 2 Sec. 7. Section 299.12, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 3 2025, is amended to read as follows: 4 a. Chronically absent means any absence from school for 5 more than ten percent of the days or hours in the grading 6 period established by a public school. 7 Sec. 8. Section 299.12, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 8 2025, is amended to read as follows: 9 a. (1) If a child is absent from school for greater than 10 or equal to fifteen percent of the days or hours in the grading 11 period, a school official shall attempt to find the cause 12 for the childs absences and shall initiate and participate 13 in a school engagement meeting. The purpose of the school 14 engagement meeting is to identify the childs barriers to 15 attendance and the interventions that may be used to improve 16 the childs attendance. 17 (2) A school official may initiate and participate in a 18 school engagement meeting as provided in subparagraph (1) prior 19 to a child being absent from school for greater than or equal 20 to fifteen percent of the days or hours in a school calendar. 21 EXPLANATION 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 23 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 24 This bill modifies provisions related to the minimum 25 amount of instruction provided to students enrolled in school 26 districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and 27 innovation zone schools. 28 Current law establishes that the school calendar for school 29 districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and 30 innovation zone schools is required to include not less than 31 180 days of instruction or 1,080 hours of instruction. The 32 bill strikes the provision related to hours of instruction, 33 which requires the school calendar to be measured in days 34 of instruction and to include not less than 180 days of 35 -3- LSB 2925YC (2) 91 jda/jh 3/ 4
H.F. _____ instruction. 1 The bill makes conforming changes, including changes 2 related to the state board of educations duty to define the 3 minimum school day, the maximum amount of instruction that 4 can be delivered primarily over the internet, and compulsory 5 education. 6 -4- LSB 2925YC (2) 91 jda/jh 4/ 4