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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
HOUSE BILL 2415 By: Johns
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 1-109, which relates to the length of the
school year; allowing school district s to adopt a
school-hours policy with specified minimum number of
days beginning with certain school year ; establishing
requirements for certain s chool-hours policy;
requiring two public hearings prior to adoption;
prescribing criteria and timing of hearings;
mandating hearing prior to readoption of policy every
three years; prohibiting eligibility of certain
schools to adopt policy; providing exemptions from
other requirements; allowing certain schools to close
for inclement weather; providing an effective date;
and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 1 -109, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1-109. A. For all public schools in Oklahoma, school
shall actually be in session and classroom instruction offered:
1. For not less than one hundred eighty (180) days; or
2. For not less than one thousand eighty (1,080) hours e ach
school year, if a district board of education adopts a sch ool-hours
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policy and notifies the State Board of Education prior to October 15
of the applicable scho ol year; or
3. Beginning with the 2021 -2022 school year, for not less than
one thousand eighty (1,080) hours with a minimum of one hundred
sixty-five (165) days of instruction each school year, if a district
board of education adopts a school -hours policy and notifies the
State Board of Education prior to October 15 of the applicable
school year; or
4. Beginning with the 2021-2022 2023-2024 school year, for not
less than one thousand eighty (1,080) hours with a minimum of one
hundred fifty-five (155) days of instruction each school year, if a
district board of education adopts a s chool-hours policy, notifies
the State Board of Education prior to October 15 of the applicable
school year, and meets the requirements established by the State
Board of Education pursuant to subsection H of this section.
B. A school district may not count more than thirty (30) hours
each school year that are used for attendance of professional
meetings toward the one hundred eighty (180) days or one thousand
eighty (1,080) hours of classroom instruction time required in
subsection A of this section.
C. Teachers off contract with an employing district shall not
be required by the e mploying school district to attend professional
meetings unless the teacher is paid additional compensation for the
additional time. Teachers may be paid additional compensation for
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attending professional meetings in excess of their contract term.
Subject to district board of education policy or collective
bargaining agreement, additional paid professional days may be
granted for individual teachers to attend or participate in
professional meetings, staff development training, or National Board
certification portfolio development as provided for in Section 6 -
204.2 of this title.
D. A school district may authorize parent -teacher conferences
to be held during a regular school day. If authorized by the school
district, parent-teacher conferences shall be co unted as classroom
instruction time for no more than six (6) hours per semester, for a
total of twelve (12) hours per school year.
E. A school district may maintain school for le ss than a full
school year only when conditions beyond the control of school
authorities make the maintenance of the term impossible and the
State Board of Education has been apprised and has expressed
concurrence in writing.
F. The State Board of Educati on shall establish criteria for an
extended-day schedule for schools subject to paragraph 1 of
subsection A of this section. The criteria shall:
1. Prescribe a lengthened school day within limits determined
not to be detrimental to quality instruction;
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2. Ensure that the schedule is equivalent in annual hours of
instruction to the one-hundred-eighty-day school year specified in
paragraph 1 of subsection A of this section; and
3. Be consistent with the provisions of this section and
Sections 1-111 and 1-112 of this title, but may result in fewer
annual days of instruction.
G. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection F of this
section, a school district board of education subject to paragraph 1
of subsection A of this section may adopt and implement a n extended-
day schedule subject to the following requirements:
1. The annual number of hours of instruction shall equal or
exceed one thousand eighty (1,080) hours, which is the equivalent of
one hundred eighty (180) days of instruction as specified in
subsection A of this section for six (6) hours each day as specified
in Section 1-111 of this title;
2. The annual number of days of instruction shall equal or
exceed one hundred eighty (180) days as specified in subsection A of
this section;
3. The schedule adopted shall be consistent with the provisions
of Sections 1-111 and 1-112 of this title, except that for not more
than one (1) day per week, a school day shall consist of not less
than five (5) hours devoted to academic instruction in a regular
classroom setting;
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4. The district shall hold a public hearing prior to the
adoption of an extended-day schedule authorized pursuant to this
subsection; and
5. The district shall document the impact on student
achievement as determined by the academic performa nce data score and
any other relevant factors that are a result of implementa tion of an
extended-day schedule authorized pursuant to this subsection and
provide an annual report to the State Board of Education of the
results. If improvement in student ach ievement cannot be documented
in the report, the district board of education shall revoke
authorization as provided by this subsection. If the district does
not revoke authorization after student achievement is not documented
in the report, the State Boar d of Education may deny accreditation
of any school in violation of this subs ection.
H. Beginning with the 2021-2022 2023-2024 school year, a school
district board of education may adopt a school -hours policy as
provided for by paragraph 4 of subsection A of this s ection only if
it meets or exceeds the minimum guidelines for stude nt performance
and school district cost savings established by the State Board of
Education. The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules,
subject to approval by the Legislature, es tablishing the minimum
guidelines for student performance and schoo l district cost savings
the board holds two public hearings prior to the adoption of the
school calendar.
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1. Notice for the public hearings shall be publicly posted
twenty (20) days prior to the date of the hearings. The hearings
shall include an opportunity for public comment and shall occur more
than twenty-five (25) days apart.
2. After adoption of a school -hours policy pursuant to this
subsection, a school district board of education shall hold a public
hearing prior to the readoption of the school-hours policy once
every three (3) years from the date the school -hours policy was
first adopted.
3. A school district board of education that has a school site
within its district which receives an A-F rating of "D" or lower
from the State Department of Ed ucation for a period of three (3) or
more consecutive years shall not be eligible to adopt a school -hours
policy as provided in paragraph 4 of subsection A of this section .
4. A school district board of education that adopts a school-
hours policy as provi ded in paragraph 4 of subsection A of this
section shall be exempt from complying with subsections F and G of
this section.
I. If subject to paragraph 2, 3, or 4 of subsection A of this
section, a district board of education or designee may elect to
close a school during the school day for incle ment weather purposes.
In such an event, the number of hours incurred in classroom
instruction time prior to school closure shall be counted toward the
one thousand eighty (1,080) hours per year requirement.
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J. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the
right of an employing school district to require teachers as defined
in Section 6-101.3 of this title to work in excess of t he one
thousand eighty (1,080) hours required for student instruction. In
addition, nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the
Fair Labor Standards Act status of any school district employee.
K. The provisions of this section shall not proh ibit the
Oklahoma School for the Blind or the Oklahoma School for the Deaf
from adopting an alternative school -hours policy if the Oklahoma
School for the Blind or the Oklahoma School for the Deaf notifies
and receives approval from the State Board of Educ ation prior to
October 15 of the applicable school year.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2023.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof thi s act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its pass age and approval.
59-1-6164 EK 01/04/23