PRINTER'S NO. 125
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
216
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY FONTANA, BREWSTER, HUGHES, COSTA, FARNESE,
RAFFERTY AND LEACH, JANUARY 15, 2015
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JANUARY 15, 2015
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in duties and powers of boards of
school directors, further providing for additional schools
and departments and for kindergartens; and, in terms and
courses of study, further providing for dates and times of
school terms and sessions.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 502 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30,
No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, amended May 9,
1949 (P.L.939, No.263), is amended to read:
Section 502. Additional Schools and Departments.--In
addition to the elementary public schools, the board of school
directors in any school district may establish, equip, furnish,
and maintain the following additional schools or departments for
the education and recreation of persons residing in said
district, and for the proper operation of its schools, namely:--
High schools,
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Trade schools,
Vocational schools,
Technical schools,
Cafeterias,
Agricultural schools,
Evening schools,
[Kindergartens,]
Libraries,
Museums,
Reading-rooms,
Gymnasiums,
Playgrounds,
Schools for physically and mentally handicapped,
Truant schools,
Parental schools,
Schools for adults,
Public lectures,
Such other schools or educational departments as the
directors, in their wisdom, may see proper to establish.
Said additional schools or departments, when established,
shall be an integral part of the public school system in such
school district and shall be so administered.
No pupil shall be refused admission to the courses in these
additional schools or departments, by reason of the fact that
his elementary or academic education is being or has been
received in a school other than a public school.
Section 2. Section 503 of the act, amended September 21,
1959 (P.L.925, No.373) and October 21, 1965 (P.L.601, No.312),
is amended to read:
Section 503. Kindergartens.--(a) The board of school
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directors in [any] every school district [may] shall establish
and maintain kindergartens for children between the ages of four
and six years. [When established, the] The kindergartens shall
be an integral part of the elementary school system of the
district, and be kept open for not less than [two and one-half]
five hours each day for the full school term as provided in
section 1501.
(b) The number of kindergartens in any one district shall be
fixed by the board of school directors, and shall be open during
the school year. Kindergartens shall be made available to all
children in residence within the school district who are between
the ages of four and six years.
[If the average attendance in any one kindergarten in any
district is ten or less for the school year, the school
directors shall, at the close of the school year, discontinue
the same.]
(c) The board of school directors shall appoint and assign a
sufficient number of teachers to such kindergartens, who shall
be certified in accordance with the rules and regulations
prescribed by the [Council of Basic Education] State Board of
Education.
Section 3. Section 1504(a) of the act, amended July 1, 1978
(P.L.575, No.105), is amended to read:
Section 1504. Dates and Times of School Terms and Sessions;
Commencement.--(a) The board of school directors of each school
district shall fix the date of the beginning of the school term.
Unless otherwise determined by the board, the daily session of
school shall open at nine ante-meridian and close at four post-
meridian, with an intermission of one hour at noon, and an
intermission of fifteen minutes in the forenoon and in the
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afternoon. Upon request of a board of school directors for an
exception to the aforesaid daily schedule, the Secretary of
Education may, when in his opinion a meritorious educational
program warrants, approve a school week containing a minimum of
twenty seven and one-half hours of instruction as the equivalent
of five (5) school days, or a school year containing a minimum
of nine hundred ninety hours (990) of instruction at the
secondary level or nine hundred (900) hours of instruction at
the elementary level or nine hundred (900) hours of instruction
at the kindergarten level as the equivalent of one hundred
eighty (180) school days. Professional and temporary
professional employes shall be allowed a lunch period free of
supervisory or other duties of at least thirty minutes. The
provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to repeal
any rule or regulation of any board of school directors now in
effect which provides for a lunch period longer than the minimum
prescribed herein or to repeal any action of any board of school
directors taken in compliance with section 7 of the act of July
25, 1913 (P.L.1024, No.466), entitled "An act to protect the
public health and welfare, by regulating the employment of
females in certain establishments, with respect to their hours
of labor and the conditions of their employment; by establishing
certain sanitary regulations in the establishments in which they
work; by requiring certain abstracts and notices to be posted;
by providing for the enforcement of this act by the Commissioner
of Labor and Industry and others; by prescribing penalties for
violations thereof; by defining the procedure in prosecutions;
and by repealing all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with
the provisions thereof," as amended.
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Section 4. This act shall apply to the 2016-2017 school year
and each school year thereafter.
Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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