Hawaii schools: Bill establishing a minimum amount of school days signed into law

Hawaii Independent Staff

HONOLULU—Lt. Governor James R. “Duke” Aiona, Jr., as acting governor, today signed into law, House Bill 2486, which establishes a minimum number of hours of instructional time for Hawaii public school students.

“Hawaii is the only State in the nation that does not set by statute the minimum number of hours of instructional time a public school student should receive,” said Lt. Governor Aiona. “Our families, principals and teachers deserve a public school system that ensures our students have the tools and classroom time needed to succeed.”

Hawaii has the shortest amount of instructional time in the nation—4 hours and 43 minutes per day. Thirty-two states average 5-and-a-half hours per day of instructional time (990 hours per school year) and 16 states mandate a minimum of 6 hours of instruction per day (1,080 hours per school year).

Under the new law, Act 167, the State Department of Education (DOE) must maximize the amount of instructional time under the current collective bargaining agreement during the 2010-2011 school year. There are 178 instructional days in the coming school year.

For the 2011-2013 school years, all public schools, except charter schools, will be required to have a school year of 180 days of instruction. Elementary schools would be required to offer 915 hours; middle and high schools would have to offer 990 hours of instruction.

In addition, the measure requires for the 2013-2015 school years, all schools, except charters, must retain the 180 days and expand instructional time to 1,080 hours for elementary, middle, and high schools.

Public charter schools were exempted at the request of the charter school community to respect the autonomy and individuality of charter schools. Some charters already have longer days, or include projects and off-site learning experiences as part of their instruction.

The bill explicitly defines instructional time to exclude lunch, recess or time for the students to pass between classes.