{"id":4299,"date":"2013-12-17T12:15:10","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T18:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/?p=4299"},"modified":"2013-12-17T12:15:10","modified_gmt":"2013-12-17T18:15:10","slug":"choice-in-school-calendar-really-isnt-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/2013\/12\/choice-in-school-calendar-really-isnt-one\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Choice’ in school calendar really isn’t one"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Iowa Legislature last session passed a law to enable school districts to measure a year in 180 days or 1080 hours, instead of just days, it was supposed to create flexibility<\/a>. Instead, by removing a long-standing provision, it will be forcing schools to move to the hour-based calendar almost unilaterally.<\/p>\n

The change is the removal of a clause that, if you’re a kid in Iowa, is one of the most relevant parts in the Iowa Code to your life (Section 256.7, subsection 19<\/a>):<\/p>\n

A school or\u00a0school district may record a day of school with less than the minimum\u00a0instructional hours as a minimum school day if any of the following\u00a0apply:\u00a0a. If emergency health or safety factors require the late\u00a0arrival or early dismissal of students on a specific day.<\/em><\/p>\n

That above passage was ELIMINATED in the law, written in on Page 30 under “Instructional Hours” (PDF)<\/a>. Concurrently with the change in law, the Department of Education amended its rules to define a school day as lasting six hours instead of 5\u00bd, and ALSO eliminated another pertinent sentence (PDF, bottom of page 3)<\/a>:<\/p>\n

If a classroom or attendance center is closed for\u00a0emergency health or safety reasons but the remainder of the school or school district is in operation, the day may be counted as a day of school.<\/em><\/p>\n

So what does this mean?<\/p>\n