LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that allows school districts that have exceeded their allotted six days of school closure to extend the length of remaining school days instead of adding days to the year in order to meet the required minimum 1,098 hours of instruction.
“This will help schools that were forced to use more snow days this year, particularly in northern and west Michigan, to meet instructional time requirements without having to extend the school year further into June,” Snyder said.
The State School Aid Act requires that schools must meet a minimum 170 days and 1,098 hours of pupil instruction to qualify for funding. House Bill 4471, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Potvin, permits schools that failed to provide the minimum required number of days for the 2012-2013 school year to extend the length of remaining school days if:
· The failure was due to school closings that occurred before April 20, 2013;
· The school closings were due to conditions outside the control of school authorities, such as severe storms, fires, epidemics, utility power unavailability, water or sewer failure, or health conditions, and
· The school district provided at least the minimum number of hours of pupil instruction.
Districts that use this exception must report the amount of instructional time lost due to closures, the amount of instructional time added to compensate, activities and subject areas addressed during the added time, and other information needed to assess whether the additional instruction was appropriate to the state to the Department of Education by July 1.
HB 4471 is now Public Act 29 of 2013.
Snyder also signed the following three bills:
Senate Bills 178 and 179, sponsored by state Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, require the creation of a single prior authorization methodology for use by Blue Cross Blue Shield and other health care insurance providers when a patient’s health plan requires prior authorization before certain prescription drugs are prescribed. The bills are PAs 30 and 31.
HB 4054, sponsored by state Rep. Kurt Heise, revises details related to an Eligible Domestic Relations Order (EDRO) granting a former spouse a portion of a government employee’s pension payments. It provides for a 60-day period during which a domestic relations order that did not qualify as an EDRO could be corrected. It is PA 32.
Visit www.michiganlegislature.org for more information.
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