PRINTER'S NO. 1249
No. 1069 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY GODSHALL, ADOLPH, BEBKO-JONES, BUNT, CAPPELLI,
COSTA, CRUZ, DERMODY, GOODMAN, HALUSKA, HARHAI, HUTCHINSON,
JAMES, LAUGHLIN, McGEEHAN, MYERS, PRESTON, SCAVELLO,
SCRIMENTI, WILT AND YOUNGBLOOD, APRIL 7, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, APRIL 7, 2003
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," changing provisions relating to
6 school terms and sessions.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 1504(a) of the act of March 10, 1949
10 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,
11 amended July 1, 1978 (P.L.575, No.105), is amended to read:
12 Section 1504. Dates and Times of School Terms and Sessions;
13 Commencement.--(a) The board of school directors of each school
14 district shall fix the date of the beginning of the school term:
15 Provided, however, That the beginning of any school term for
16 students shall not commence any earlier than the day after Labor
17 Day. Unless otherwise determined by the board, the daily session
18 of school shall open at nine ante-meridian and close at four
19 post-meridian, with an intermission of one hour at noon, and an
1 intermission of fifteen minutes in the forenoon and in the
2 afternoon. Upon request of a board of school directors for an
3 exception to the aforesaid daily schedule, the Secretary of
4 Education may, when in his opinion a meritorious educational
5 program warrants, approve a school week containing a minimum of
6 twenty seven and one-half hours of instruction as the equivalent
7 of five (5) school days, or a school year containing a minimum
8 of nine hundred ninety hours of instruction at the secondary
9 level or nine hundred (900) hours of instruction at the
10 elementary level as the equivalent of one hundred eighty (180)
11 school days. Professional and temporary professional employes
12 shall be allowed a lunch period free of supervisory or other
13 duties of at least thirty minutes. The provisions of this
14 subsection shall not be construed to repeal any rule or
15 regulation of any board of school directors now in effect which
16 provides for a lunch period longer than the minimum prescribed
17 herein or to repeal any action of any board of school directors
18 taken in compliance with section 7 of the act of July 25, 1913
19 (P.L.1024, No.466), entitled "An act to protect the public
20 health and welfare, by regulating the employment of females in
21 certain establishments, with respect to their hours of labor and
22 the conditions of their employment; by establishing certain
23 sanitary regulations in the establishments in which they work;
24 by requiring certain abstracts and notices to be posted; by
25 providing for the enforcement of this act by the Commissioner of
26 Labor and Industry and others; by prescribing penalties for
27 violations thereof; by defining the procedure in prosecutions;
28 and by repealing all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with
29 the provisions thereof," as amended. Nothing in this section
30 shall prevent school districts from conducting in-service
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1 sessions for teachers before Labor Day.
2 * * *
3 Section 2. Any contractually agreed-upon school calendar or
4 process which determines the school calendar in effect on the
5 effective date of this amendatory act between a school district
6 and its professional or nonprofessional employees which is in
7 conflict with the provisions of this amendatory act shall remain
8 in effect for the duration of that contract.
9 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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