§ 1071. School year and school day
(a) Minimum number of days. Except as provided in this section, each public school shall be maintained and operated
for:
(1) At least 175 student attendance days in each school year. For purposes of this section,
a majority of students enrolled in a school must be recorded on the school roll as
in attendance on any day counted as a student attendance day.
(2) At least five teacher in-service education days, during which time activities shall
be conducted without students present in order to increase the competency of the staff,
improve the curriculum of the school, enable teachers to attend State educational
meetings, or disseminate student progress information to parents or the community.
(b) Hours of operation. Within the minimum set by the State Board, the school board shall fix the number of
hours that shall constitute a school day, subject to change upon the order of the
State Board.
(c) Unanticipated closings. When a public school is closed for cause beyond the control of the school board, it
may petition the State Board for a waiver of the requirements of this section. The
petition shall be filed with the State Board within 10 days of each occurrence and
not later than June 15 of the school year involved; and the State Board shall act
on the petition at its next meeting. If the petition is approved and a waiver granted,
the school district shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirements of this section.
If the State Board fails to act at that meeting, the petition shall be deemed to have
been approved and the waiver granted.
(d) [Repealed.]
(e) Regional calendar. Before April 1 of each year, the superintendents of schools and the headmasters of
public schools not managed by school boards in an area shall meet, and by majority
vote, establish a uniform calendar within that area for the following school year.
The calendar shall include student attendance days, periods of vacation, holidays,
and teacher in-service education days and shall comply with subsection (a) of this
section. Unless permitted by the Secretary, no area served by a regional career technical
center shall be divided into two or more calendar regions.
(f) Additional days. Nothing in this section prohibits a school from scheduling additional days for student
attendance or teacher in-service education. However, those days shall not conflict
with any applicable school calendar.
(g) Upon application of one or more school districts, after approval by the voters of
each such district, the State Board may grant a waiver of the requirements of subsection
(a) of this section if it is satisfied that equivalent educational programming will
be maintained or improved. The waiver may be granted for any purpose, including the
conservation of energy. (Amended 1969, No. 298 (Adj. Sess.),§§ 7, 79; 1971, No. 17; 1979, No. 155 (Adj. Sess.); 1981, No. 47, § 1; 1983, No. 163 (Adj. Sess.); 1991, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1995, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1999, No. 49, § 22, eff. June 2, 1999; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 113, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)