Addressing Abbreviated School Days

The act clarifies what constitutes an abbreviated school day and describes the effects of placing children with disabilities on abbreviated school day schedules (abbreviated schedule). The act requires the department of education (department) to create and implement a policy that explains the: Definition of an abbreviated school day, including how the definition applies to attendance and school discipline; Circumstances in which abbreviated schedules are permissible and impermissible; Roles of the teams who determine whether to assign children with disabilities to abbreviated schedules; Extent to which children with disabilities may participate in field trips, school functions, and extracurricular activities; Documentation and maintenance of records relating to children with disabilities' abbreviated schedules; Review of abbreviated schedules on a regular basis by the teams who determine whether to assign children with disabilities to abbreviated schedules; Information that parents, legal guardians, or custodians of children with disabilities (parents) must receive regarding whether parents may consent to, revoke consent to, or oppose abbreviated schedules; and Procedural safeguard information distributed to parents prior to meetings in which abbreviated schedules are discussed. Each administrative unit shall adopt the department's policy and create a plan to support children with disabilities who are assigned an abbreviated schedule. The plan must include the outcomes for placing children with disabilities on an abbreviated schedule and a description of the stages for gradual reintroduction to return children with disabilities to full-time school day schedules. The department shall provide annual training and ongoing technical assistance to administrative units. On or before July 1, 2026, and each July 1 thereafter, a school district, a district charter school, an institute charter school, or a board of cooperative services shall submit a report to the department summarizing: The number of children with disabilities who were placed on abbreviated schedules during the preceding school year; The number of days and the percentage of the school year that each child with disabilities was placed on an abbreviated schedule; The student demographic information for each child with disabilities placed on an abbreviated school day schedule, including race, gender, English language learner status, and whether the child has a disability pursuant to federal law, to the extent possible while maintaining student privacy; and The student demographic data collected, disaggregated by race, gender, English language learner status, and disability status pursuant to federal law, to the extent possible while maintaining student privacy. The act requires the department to post the reports to the department's website on an annual basis. Beginning in January 2027, and in January every year thereafter, the department shall include as part of its presentation during its "SMART Act" hearing information concerning abbreviated schedules. By the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, the department shall standardize the reporting method that schools of a school district, district charter schools, school districts, institute charter schools, and the state charter school institute use to collect and report data concerning: Instructional hours; School calendars; and The number of hours students spend on instructional time during the school year. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, and each school year thereafter, the department shall collect from schools of a school district, district charter schools, school districts, institute charter schools, and the state charter school institute, at a minimum, the following data: Days of instruction for elementary and secondary schools; Instructional hours for elementary and secondary schools; Estimated non-instructional hours, school closures, snow days, and time spent on lunch and passing between classes; and The number of days and percentage of the school year students were placed on abbreviated schedules. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $250,108 is appropriated to the department from the general fund to implement this act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)