19.0955.01000
Sixty-sixth
Legislative Assembly HOUSE BILL NO. 1346
of North Dakota
Introduced by
Representatives Zubke, Mitskog, Schreiber-Beck
1 A BILL for an Act to amend and reenact sections 15.1-06-04 and 15.1-27-23 of the North
2 Dakota Century Code, relating to required number of hours of instruction by school districts and
3 weather emergencies.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:
5 SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 15.1-06-04 of the North Dakota Century Code is
6 amended and reenacted as follows:
7 15.1-06-04. School calendar - Length.
8 1. A school district shall provide for a school calendar that includes:
9 a. At least one hundred seventy-five daysnine hundred sixty-two and one-half hours
10 of instruction for elementary school students and one thousand fifty hours of
11 instruction for middle and high school students;
12 b. Three holidays, as selected by the board in consultation with district teachers
13 from the list provided for in subdivisions b through j of subsection 1 of section
14 15.1-06-02;
15 c. No more than two days for:
16 (1) Parent-teacher conferences; or
17 (2) Compensatory time for parent-teacher conferences held outside of regular
18 school hours; and
19 d. At least two days of professional development.
20 2. a. A day of professional development must consist of:
21 (1) Six hours of professional development, exclusive of meals and other breaks,
22 conducted within a single day;
23 (2) Six hours of cumulative professional development conducted under the
24 auspices of a professional learning community; or
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Legislative Assembly
1 (3) Two four-hour periods of professional development, exclusive of meals and
2 other breaks, conducted over two days.
3 b. If a school district offers a four-hour period of professional development, as
4 permitted in this subsection, the school district may schedule instruction during
5 other available hours on that same day and be credited with providing one-half
6 day of instruction to students. This subdivision does not apply unless the one-half
7 day of instruction equals at least one-half of the time required for a full day of
8 instruction, as defined in this section.
9 3. If because of weather a school must dismiss before completing a full day of
10 instruction, the school is responsible for making up only those hours and portions of an
11 hour between the time of early dismissal and the conclusion of a full day of classroom
12 instruction.
13 4. For purposes of this section, a full day of instruction consists of:
14 a. At least five and one-half hours for kindergarten and elementary students, during
15 which time the students are required to be in attendance for the purpose of
16 receiving curricular instruction; and
17 b. At least six hours for high school students, during which time the students are
18 required to be in attendance for the purpose of receiving curricular instruction.
19 SECTION 2. AMENDMENT. Section 15.1-27-23 of the North Dakota Century Code is
20 amended and reenacted as follows:
21 15.1-27-23. Weather or other emergency conditions - Closure of schools - State aid
22 payments to school districts.
23 1. The board of each school district shall include in the school calendar days that may be
24 used for the rescheduling of instructional time lost as a result of severe weather or other
25 emergency conditions.
26 2. a. The number of days required under subsection 1 must equal the average number
27 of days per school year, as calculated using the previous five school years,
28 during which the school district remained closed or provided less than a full day
29 of instruction because of severe weather or other emergency conditions.
30 b. The number of days determined under subdivision a may be included within the
31 calendar no earlier than the month of January.
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Legislative Assembly
1 3. If the number of days during which a public school or school district is closed or
2 provides less than a full day of instruction exceeds the number of days determined
3 under subdivision a of subsection 2, the public school or school district shall make
4 every effort to reschedule the remaining classes, so that students receive at least the
5 number of full instructional days required by section 15.1-06-04 or an equivalent
6 period of instructional time, as determined by the superintendent of public instruction.
7 4. Any public school or school district for which the rescheduling of classes would create
8 undue hardship may request that, for purposes of calculating state aid payments to the
9 school district, the governor waive the rescheduling in whole or in part.
10 5. The governor may not grant a waiver for less than a full day of instruction. However, if
11 a public school or school district closes for only a portion of its regular schoolday, the
12 hours during which the school or school district is closed may be added together to
13 determine the number of additional full days of instruction that may be waived under
14 this sectionestablish the length of a period, day, and week in accordance with the
15 requirements of section 15.1-06-04. If a public school or school district is closed or
16 provides less than a full day of instruction, the public school or school district shall
17 reschedule those hours to ensure students receive at least the minimum number of
18 instructional hours required by subdivision a of subsection 1 of section 15.1-06-04.
Page No. 3 19.0955.01000
Statutes affected: INTRODUCED: 15.1-06-04, 15.1-27-23
FIRST ENGROSSMENT: 15.1-06-04, 15.1-27-23
Adopted by the Senate Education Committee: 15.1-27-35