House Education Committee
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Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
0:00
To Co-Chair Roebuck, just a second. Vice Chair, excuse me. Thank
Representative Johnnie J. Roebuck
Unverified
0:04
you, Mr. Chair. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to introduce to you today committee Gail Gaines, who's visiting us from the Southern Regional Education Board Office in Atlanta. Gail, welcome. Gail serves as Vice President for State Services, and she's available to you. She'll be here today and tomorrow morning. So if you have any issues that SREB can help you with, Gail is here, and she's here in our state a lot whenever we need her.
So whenever you need help, Gail is your person. So, Gail, thank you, and welcome back to Arkansas. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Gail, would you like to make any
Speaker 5
0:42
comments or short comments? Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
Speaker 8
1:04
I'm very happy to be in Arkansas. I'm here to observe, to listen, to follow bills, and to keep up with what's going on as best I can. We appreciate Arkansas's involvement in SREB. We hope that you know that you can call on us whenever you have education-related questions. We may be able to help you with some of what's going on in other states or do some research for you on particular issues. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Okay, committee, I believe the next item on the agenda is House Bill 1099 by Representative Linderman. Mr. Linderman, you're recognized to present House Bill 1099. And would you
identify yourself with the record at the end of the
table, please? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Homer Linderman, representative for District 76, and I am introducing today House Bill 1099.
House Bill 1099 simply allows the local school district more flexibility in starting the date. Now, current law allows you to start on August the 19th, depending on where the 19th falls. The school district can start as early as the 18th day of August. My bill simply allows school to start the first Monday or the Monday of the week of August the 19th. What this does is with the current starting date that we have,
The fall semester generally is several days, and in some cases up to 10 days shorter than the spring semester. I was a vocational teacher for 30 years. We taught many courses that were single semester courses, and those students in the fall semester did not get as many days of instruction as those students in the spring semester. The high school that I retired from this year gave the semester test during the first week of January when they came back to school and I went to the school and several of the teachers
were talking about the problems with trying to get the students prepped for the school, for the final exams and those things. The bill simply allows a little more control of the local school district in these starting dates. bill was brought to me or the suggestion was brought to me by our local school districts. I do have the physical impact study or statement, and the last comment says no impact on state
treasury. I've been told that the parks and tourism folks were opposed to this bill, so I went to talk to them. We had a very cordial meeting. They supplied me with information that I believe does not support their position. One of the documents that they have, and I would enter that if it is needed, shows that the total travel expenditures for May were $531 million, June were $640 million, July was $679 million,
and August was $529 million. The August, generally the students would be out for at least two weeks, But in May, almost all students are in school for the entire time period. This bill does not add any days to the school calendar. It adds none. What it simply does is it might shift that where students could get out a few days earlier in the spring, but they would start a few days earlier in the fall. Two years out of seven, there would be no change in the starting date of school under present law in this one.
After that, the school year would start one day earlier, up to a maximum of four days. In my bill, the earliest a school could start would be on the 14th, the very earliest. Now the earliest it can start is on the 18th. This bill is a kid bill as far as I'm concerned. I was 30 years as an educator, and I've told superintendents and I've told others that no matter what, I will always be on the side of the students. I believe it is in the best interest of the students for end-of-course exams, for the teachers, and for the educational process to complete the first semester prior to the Christmas break.
Chair
Unverified
5:43
And with that, I will entertain questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Linderman. Committee,
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
5:51
Representative Stewart, you're recognized. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a question
brought to me by my wife, who's a teacher on the Personal Policy Committee. And her question is, if we start school earlier in August, and then the teacher in-service days are earlier than that, would that necessitate another day of sick leave for the school or the teachers?
Right now, they're getting nine days sick leave. when they go to school more than half of August, by state law, that
would require one more day of sick leave, which would then
have a fiscal impact on your school. Okay, I'm going to respond to that. I spent 17 or 18 years as chairman of the personnel policy. The scenario that you
brought up is there are no additional days in the school year. Some school districts give nine days now.
Some of them, based on the 190 days, give nine and a half days. And there are a few
school districts that do 10 days. But now there are no additional days in the school year. It simply shifts that around. They would be getting out earlier in May or June as opposed to those days in
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
7:06
August. I think the current law on sick leave says if you work more than half the month, calendar month, then you're entitled for a sick day for that month, and that would be the 10th month.
If you start in August and go all the way through to May, now you
have worked more than half of 10 months, and that would trigger another sick leave day.
Okay, Representative Stewart, is that state law or is that part of their current personnel policy? State law. Okay, sir, I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with
that. Excuse me, Representative Stewart, we may have
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
7:42
someone here in the audience that might can address that. Ms. Gould, do you want to identify yourself for the record?
Speaker 38
7:49
Kristen Gould, staff attorney, Arkansas School Boards Association. Current law says that teachers get a sick leave day for every month under contract or major portion thereof. Most school districts, based on their school calendar and how it spreads itself out on the calendar, are currently giving 10 days most years.
Occasionally I run into a school district who is giving 9 days, and that is defensible. There are school districts who were giving 9 days who, when they went back and looked at it because someone raised an issue, went back and realized that they had made an error and were not giving enough sick leave and adjusted it. But it is possible that a school district that legitimately had been giving 9 based on the way their calendar worked with pushing it back and pushing the professional development back
could easily go into the 10-day scenario. But since most districts are already giving 10 days, a whole day for August, this would not be a change for
Speaker 26
9:04
most districts. do you happen to know how many day
Speaker 38
9:08
how many schools are still doing only the nine days i don't collect that information but i i do believe that over the past several years the school districts that were making mistakes have had that call to their attention and they have corrected those mistakes if your wife's school district is making a mistake i feel very confident
that once that is pointed out to them, that they will address it
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
9:34
swiftly. I think there's more than that school, and I'm not sure how they're doing it, but that was brought up in their meeting. But that's just
Speaker 43
9:42
a concern that arose just yesterday. They may have several days from previous years owed
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
9:47
to them. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Gu. Committee, any
Representative Donna Hutchinson
Unverified
9:55
other questions? Representative Hutchinson? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Lederman, and I have the same question for Representative Stewart's bill.
And if you two can't answer it, maybe someone on staff can. We have a number of schools in our area that go year-round. Will this affect their timeline or change when they can stop and go? Ma'am,
Speaker 54
10:19
I'm sorry. I cannot answer that. I mean, state law
says 178 days as far as the students and 190 for teachers. They go the right number
Representative Donna Hutchinson
Unverified
10:29
of days. They just go for three weeks, stop for a week, then go for three weeks.
They don't have a summer vacation. So I want to know if this will hamper that arrangement. I
would not think that it would because, and again, there are none in my district or my area that do that. Well,
Representative Donna Hutchinson
Unverified
10:49
Ms. Gould says no, so I'll – okay, thank
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
10:58
you. Okay. Representative Hobbs. Thank you, Ms. Chair. Representative Lederman, the way I read this, it does not mandate that a
school begins earlier. It simply gives the local school board the authority to make that decision.
Is that correct? That is correct. And one thing that I did not address that I should have, and I've had some teachers that have contacted me about this, when a school district adopts a calendar, they must send it to the personnel policy committee. The personnel policy committee reviews it, supposedly lets all the teachers know. And in most school districts, and again, I taught in one school district for 30 years, we were given some leeway and we were given the right to vote on a calendar.
So if there was a pressing reason that they chose to start on Wednesday or Thursday, there is nothing in this bill that
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
11:47
would prevent that. Thank you. I think most of the superintendents in the Northwest Arkansas Education Co-op signed on
wanting this, so I appreciate you bringing this to our committee. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Rep. New
Representative Tim Summers
Unverified
12:01
Summers. Thank you, Mr. Chair. and this question is of the chair, the only person, the only contact I've had is from the hospitality industry.
Is there anyone here from that industry that's going to speak against the bill? Do you
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
12:15
know? Mr. Summers, I believe they have signed up. We have several groups or several people signed up to speak for or against the bill, and I think they're one of
those that have signed up. Thank you, sir. And, again, audience, if you have not signed up, you should already have, but Mark has the list here. If you want to speak for or against this bill, you need to sign this list. Representative Klemmer, I believe you're next.
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
12:38
My question is about school activities, and I just don't know the answer.
So maybe, Mr. Linderman, if you or someone in the audience, do we have a mandated number of days before sports and school activities can start? I mean, how much are we pushing that date back? Does football start two weeks before band starts before? So a number of activities start well before school. Does anybody know how many days or how many weeks that is? I just don't know. To my
knowledge, there is no state law that addresses that.
In our local school district, those were administrative decisions as to when they started. I would think the AAA would at least govern the football part. I don't
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
13:23
know about band. Does anybody? Okay, we can leave that for another group.
Speaker 75
13:29
We can leave that for somebody else to answer. They cover
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
13:34
all the activities, band. Okay, they would cover
the dates when they could actually begin the competition, but as far as the practice and things, I do not think that they do.
Speaker 78
13:46
I believe they do because I think our school would practice year-round if they could. Sorry if my school's in attendance.
I don't see anyone here from the AAA, but we may have someone else.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
14:03
Is Lance back there? Come on in. We have a little question for you, sir. Would you identify yourself with the record, please?
Speaker 82
14:20
Yes, sir. Lance Taylor, the executive director of the
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
14:23
AAA. Okay, Representative Clemmer has a question she
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
14:27
wants to ask you. What is the requirement, or is there a requirement for the number of days, the maximum number of days before school practices can start, before the school year? How many, three weeks ahead of time, when does football practice get to start? Is there
Speaker 82
14:42
a deadline for that? No, ma'am. Schools can practice, I guess, all year round if they want to in football. Beginning of August on week number five, which is usually the first Monday in August,
they have to go three days of mandatory practice in just shorts and helmets to get them acclimated to the weather. And then, of course, on the fourth day they can put on pads, and that all starts at the first week of August. That does sound like there's a date then. There is a date, but, of course, during the summer they all go and play on seven-on-seven team camps and everything, so they're playing all summer, They're lifting all summer. But there is a day when actually football practice does officially start, which would be the first
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
15:22
Monday in August. Okay. Is it based on the start date of school, or would that remain the first date of August?
Speaker 82
15:28
It's always week number five, which is the first
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
15:31
day of August. Okay, so it's not tied to the first day of school, I guess.
Speaker 76
15:37
That's my question. No, ma'am. Okay, thank you. Thank you, sir. I'll
thank you. Any other questions of the gentleman at the table before we let him
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
15:52
go? Thank you, sir. Committee, any other questions? Seeing none, at this point we'll go to the audience, and we're going to go to the against first, and Mantine McNulty, would you please have a seat at the
table, identify yourself for the record, and tell us your position, please.
Montene Mcnulty
Unverified
16:15
My name is Montene McNulty.
Speaker 90
16:29
I am Montene McNulty, Executive Director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association, which is really an umbrella organization of the Arkansas Lodging Association, Arkansas Restaurant Association, Arkansas Travel Council, and also the Arkansas Marina Association.
And we are against this. I want to point out actually the present law is a compromise that was worked out, and we fully support everything that you're trying to do. We want the best educated workforce. We want the best educated young people and adults in the state. And we know you have a hard job. We have worked most recently on a summer break compromise that we all – there were many
of us that got together that all had a vested interest in school calendar. And I think you would all be amazed at how many people really do have an interest and want to have some input in that type of thing. The 19th or the 18th, as has been reported, has seemed to work out really well. I know this next year it comes at the end of the week and that I think has brought us to the table.
However, I would point out that I think that there has been a bill introduced every session that I can remember wanting to change from the original compromise date that we struck. I do have some information that I know that the bill sponsor mentioned it, but that Department of Parks and Tourism did pull together at his request that I think you ought to see
And I think you'd be interested in it because it does represent some pretty significant tax revenue for the state that will be lost if this bill is enacted. So with your permission, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make these available. Yes, ma'am. You may proceed. Okay.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
18:45
Well, Mr. Mark will come pick those up and pass them out
Speaker 90
18:50
for you. All right. Okay. And let me say that this report, and it represents revenue from what's called the 2% Tourism Trust Fund
that's reported by the Department of Parks and Tourism by DF&A. And the first table that you're going to look at shows the revenue for the months of May, June, July, and August and the percent of the total trust fund revenue that each month represents in 2010. State and local taxes information is reported annually by DFA. This information is about restaurant sales and additional local taxes, but since this
information is not available monthly, the percent of the total 2 percent revenue collections for these four months was used to estimate the monthly total travel expenditures. We can tell you that there is a significant drop in revenue and travel. As you all know, when people get ready for school, families, you know, they stop traveling. August is considered, and this is one of our big things, and you're going to hear from
a business representative that just is telling about his business and personal experience. We can't replace the days in August with other dates. It is the high tourism season and it is the time and this particular bill would impact not only the five days during the week but the two weekends and that would be pretty significant. You can see that in 2010 travel peaked in July with over $679 million and expenditures
and the taxes were $35 million in state taxes. The impact of the drop in August is apparent, a decline of 22.1% with total monthly revenue declining to $529 million in August. So you can see it really took a hit, and this is probably an understated percentage. We estimate, and I think this current report also verifies that, that the total expenditures
per day is $17 million. Now that's $324,134 in local tax generated. But the hit to the industry is $17 million a day. So you can see why we are at the table and want to talk about this issue. We think that there are things like utilities in schools.
You know, I can't help but believe in August when we sometimes push 100-degree temperatures There are going to be some pretty dramatic increases in utilities, and that should be a concern. I can remember one year, not very long ago, on the weather at night, they were saying that the children wouldn't go out for recess because the pediatrician that was on there that was interviewed said there was danger of third-degree burns. So heat, utilities, tax revenue, you know, I understand about the teacher contract and
the number of days are not going to change for the teachers. But for us, we're talking about two weekends and five days. You know, I guess I find it hard to believe that teachers are going to give up an entire week of their summer vacation for no additional compensation, even if they don't have additional teaching days, but that's something for teachers to talk about. I've talked to a number that don't – in fact, I've not talked to one that was in favor
of this, but I'd be happy to answer any questions. We do have a business representative that would like to speak. He drove for many hours in his own peril to get here this morning, and I'd like for him to get
Speaker 99
23:32
a chance. Okay. Representative Steele, you have a question?
Speaker 102
23:40
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. McNulty, on the information you provided for us from a monthly standpoint shows a decrease
in August, do you attribute that decrease in revenue in regard to travel because there
Speaker 103
23:54
are fewer days of travel in August? Yes. I mean,
Speaker 104
24:00
our window has already been compressed because school starts the 19th. So pretty much from the 19th on,
Speaker 103
24:08
your travel gets way down. And then on the second page, which
Speaker 102
24:14
you did not mention, broke it down into weeks.
So actually, August is a stronger month based on the first two weeks of August. Am I reading this correctly? You are reading it correctly. But I don't see a comparison to the first two weeks of August and the first two weeks of June and July. Am I missing something? No, it's not
Speaker 91
24:41
the first two weeks. I don't think they're on here. So
Speaker 102
24:45
the first two weeks of August is probably stronger than the first two weeks of June,
which the first week of June the kids are still in school. So that might already be answered. But then probably the first two weeks
Speaker 108
24:59
of July is a better comparison than with
Speaker 90
25:03
the first two weeks of August. Before we had the present bill that school starts after the 19th, August was the strongest month in the year for tourism. So that's, I think, you're looking at it. It's still, those two weeks are very strong.
Families typically don't travel early in June. There's baseball and sports. It's kind of cool. August is a hot, dry month, and many families want to get in the car and go for one last vacation or one last trip before school starts. So it is, the first two weeks in August are very strong weeks for travel. And, you know, in many of our, I mean, Arkansas is our first market for travel.
Many of those are Arkansas families that are staying local. You also see the state parks revenue represented here and what that means. But August is just a huge month. Again, we call it the high season of tourism in Arkansas. So this is a really big hit that hits businesses and
Speaker 89
26:17
families. Families like to travel, too. That's important. And last question, how much, when school
Speaker 107
26:23
starts, how much of a drop-off in the last two weeks of August
the experience or somewhere you
Speaker 111
26:30
can show me that. Well, I think the report
Speaker 90
26:36
said it was a decline of 22 percent, if I'm reading
Speaker 89
26:51
this right. Dividing out the weeks, it's declining 22 percent.
Speaker 114
26:58
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Representative Steele.
Representative Donna Hutchinson
Unverified
27:07
We have Representative Hutchinson. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. Do either of you know the starting dates for the states around us, what they use to start
Speaker 90
27:17
their school year? I do know that Texas went back to – they moved theirs up and then went back to a later date because of the utilities because it was so hot.
I don't think I brought a – I have a report that I may not have with me, but I have a report of some of the southern states and some of their start dates, but I don't have it with me, so I can't answer that. I do know that, you know, the August dates, it's an issue in other
Speaker 95
27:54
states besides just Arkansas for the same reasons.
Thank you. I'm looking. I've just got some information. and this is from Ms. Gaines, SREB, starting dates 2009. And
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
28:16
it says majority of school starts, Alabama, August 7-11, Delaware, August 14-31, Florida, August 18-22, let's see, Texas, Texas, August 24-28,
8th. Oklahoma, August 11th through the 18th. Mississippi, August 1st through the 11th. They're all on here, but Louisiana is August 10th through the 14th, so if that will answer your question, Representative Hutchinson. I know it went kind of fast, but that's kind of similar, but some are a little earlier, some are a little later. Thank you, Gail, for that information when you earn your pay. I had us see Representative Summers.
Representative Tim Summers
Unverified
29:05
I believe you had a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have a physical impact statement that shows no impact on state treasury, and according to information we've got here, some of these dollars would flow into the state treasury in the form of sales tax or whatever, I think. I'd like for somebody to be able to tell me who's got the right information on that. Do you understand my question? Yes, sir, I do.
Speaker 56
29:35
I think the physical impact is what effect
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
29:37
that has on schools, money they pay out for teachers or other things that are concerned with that. I think what she is showing is actually money that's going to be, they're saying the money will be lost for the state treasury. So in a way, you're correct in saying that I'm not sure the money would come back to loss in educational dollars, but it would be loss to the state.
Isn't that right, Martine? Is that what you're trying
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
30:11
tax dollars does go to education. Well, 70% probably does. You're correct. So, Ms. Summers, that kind of yes and no, if that gives you an answer. Thank you
Speaker 56
30:21
for that good answer, sir. Okay. Any other questions? Representative
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
30:28
Hobbs? Thank you, Mr. Chair. On the chart you gave us, it says one week of June. Is that the first week in June compared to first week of July, first week of August?
Speaker 90
30:42
Are you looking at the chart? At the second. Okay, I think that's week by week at the
Speaker 89
30:53
bottom. When it says one week of June, one week of July, yeah, it's comparing them. Okay, so
Speaker 90
31:00
you don't know if it's the first week of each month or? Yeah, you remember I said that the money is by month with the F&A, not by week. Right. So this is just taking a fourth of it and telling you what a week would be in June, July, and August.
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
31:18
Okay, and so this then shows that June is actually, June and July are actually more per week than August. Yes, but August only
Speaker 90
31:27
has, remember August only has two weeks of travel. So it's still pretty strong considering that we really have half of the month. Right. But, again, if you're comparing week to week versus month
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
31:40
to month, then June and July. So, and I know you can't say for certain, but I know the last few years seems like we've had several snow days to be made up in June.
I mean, so is it possible that if we had all of June off that we would see revenues increase
Speaker 90
32:07
in June? You know, I really can't answer that. I'm not sure how many days in June school usually goes. They usually try to get it over early, like the second of June or something like that. But again, from what we hear from businesses, there's no comparison between June and August
as far as the robustness of travel and families doing things. And it has to do with the weather, hot, dry, and people want to get on the lakes. They are slower to ramp up in June, and they don't just get out of school and start vacations typically. There are a lot of activities that a lot of young people are in that kind of keeps the travel down. And then once all that's over, they start wanting to travel, and that's usually in August.
But it's hot and dry.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
33:04
Okay, thank you. Committee, any additional questions of Ms. McNulty? If not, thank you for
your testimony. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Next, we will have
Speaker 128
33:23
Donna Moray of AEA. We'll speak for the bill. Good morning.
Speaker 131
33:30
I'm Donna Morey, president of the Arkansas Education Association, and it's an honor to be
Speaker 132
33:35
with the Education Committee this morning. We are speaking in favor of this bill because it allows schools the flexibility to finish their fall semester before the Christmas break. It doesn't mandate that any school has to start any earlier, but it's about best practices on teaching, learning, and retention of knowledge and skills. This is good for children, and it's good for educators.
Speaker 125
34:02
Thank you very much. Thank you. Committee, any questions of this? Representative Steele.
Speaker 135
34:13
yes thank you um how did the um arkansas teachers association are they have they taken a
Speaker 102
34:18
position on this bill we're supporting it okay so the teachers are for even though that would mean uh could be as many as four days additional work for them it's no additional
Speaker 132
34:32
days of work you explain that well depending on when your contract starts you still have the
same number of work days most teachers in the state are on a hundred and ninety day contract in Little Rock the teachers are on a hundred and ninety two day contract so it's the same number of days it's just your year would would start a few days early perhaps as representative Linderman said two years out of seven there wouldn't be any change in the start dates at all thank you mr. chairman thank you Rep. Hobbs you have
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
35:01
a question thank you mr. chair I'm probably almost almost to my limit, huh? MR.
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
35:07
Oh, you won't. MS. Thank you, sir. One of the arguments I've heard to allow this flexibility is because of the benchmark testing. And the way I understand it, the benchmark test dates are set by whom? Who sets those dates? Aren't they set? MR. By the Department of Education. MS. Okay. Maybe they have a
week that they have to do it in within that week. Is that correct? It's set on a certain week.
Yes, ma'am. Okay. So if this bill were to pass, then children would have more time in the classroom before they took those tests. Is that correct?
Speaker 137
35:49
There's a possibility of four more days of instruction before the
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
35:55
testing. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Representative Hobbs. Committee, any other questions? Ms. Moray?
If not, thank you for your testimony. At this time, we will have Richard Hanson, Quarry and Marina Association,
and he will speak against this bill if he's here. Okay. Have a seat at the end of the table there and just identify yourself for the record, and
Speaker 145
36:26
then you may proceed. Hi, I'm Richard Hanson. I
Speaker 146
36:28
own a Quarry and Marina on Lake Norfolk up by Mountain Home. I'm here to speak against the bill today and quite honestly my mind races around a
lot of questions that you guys questions have raised but let me kind of start with a little bit of history about a tourism operation just briefly before the compromise was made we based a lot of our tourism operation parts like boat rentals and those kind of you know associated equipment costs or what we used to call the hundred day you know factor you just basically had a hundred days to to to rent a piece of equipment or pay for a piece of equipment and then
when you when you shrink those days down into 80 days or 90 days or 70 days you basically drive that factor up so when you go to an operation anybody who rents boat and you go, my gosh, I don't want to buy it, I just want to rent it. Well, the problem is that I'm having to pay for it in a shorter period of time now. So the public's definitely affected, they just don't realize why they're being affected. It looks like I'm just greedy. That's not the truth, I'm just trying to pay for it. But the real factor for us is this, is that you can't out-advertise weather. And I've got all kind of figures at my place which statistically
shows like your question about June days you know if we went the whole month of June if June would be consistently 80 to 90 degrees for every day and not rain in those days it would definitely be a good month but you can't change those factors you can lay any any operation that's that I don't care if it's if it's a hotel I don't care if it's what it is you you lay their spreadsheet out and and don't tell me what the months are, I can basically just about point to the day school started.
It's just that dramatic. My business will see from the first week of August and the second week of August to that third and fourth week, probably between a 50% to 40% decline in revenues just for those three. I have three rental boats. Just for the three boats that I rent and the store sales that we do. So, in other words, it's foot traffic. You're losing your foot traffic. And you're just not going to make that up. Like kind of what my team was saying, the dry months, hot months,
that's what's going to send them to any kind of a water operation. And it would be the same for a theme park. It would be the same for water parks. Anything like that, it's going to affect us big. You know, the biggest, I shouldn't say fear, but the biggest concern I have is that just by calling it a flex date, and then turn around and saying that the superintendents are all for this basically tells me that that's what's going to happen. It's not a flex date.
It's going to happen that way. And you're saying I get two out of seven days, it's not going to affect me at all. Well, you know, I have enough factors as it is. I just don't see where trying to earn a living should be difficult only in the months I can do it. In other words, I don't want to trade November days. You know, that's not going to do me any good. I need every August day I can get. I would like us to be like Texas and move back. The real question is, you know, is it, and here again,
I would just like to see the study that shows that is the test, are we learning for the test or are we learning for retention? I don't really understand that statement. I mean, in other words, if we take the test before we leave school, does that mean that our kids are going to graduate from college at a higher rate? Or does it mean if we come back and we score higher after we've been gone out of school for a couple weeks and they score high on those tests, does that mean they retain that knowledge in order to move forward?
I guess I'm really kind of confused now on really what the real issue is. But with me, it still comes back to the fact I've got to be able to afford to pay for these amenities or we're just going to drive the cost up higher, in which case it will affect us even more. We'll just be out of those businesses. We won't be able to offer them. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
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40:53
Hanson. Committee, any questions of this gentleman? If not, we thank you for your testimony. You may be excused.
Committee, next we have Ron Harder,
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ASBA, and he will speak for this bill. Thank you, Mr.
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Chairman, members of the committee. This gets into a lot of issues, and especially some of you that were here this morning when I discussed Common Core, this fits right in with that.
Representative Hobbs' questions in terms of student learning is the fundamental issue. There isn't the flexibility. School calendar, by and large, is already too short for what's required to be accomplished. And there isn't a viable option to move the end date. Everything is set by No Child Left Behind, AYP, and benchmark administration test dates.
The test dates are set as late as they possibly can be, and it has been moved back, which is a really good thing, to later in the year. But the results have to be back, the data has to be analyzed by July 1st in order to trigger adequate yearly progress provisions under No Child Left Behind. It isn't just an issue of trying to end the first semester by Christmas.
It is the number of student-teacher contact days by the time the benchmark exams are administered. That gets well into the second semester. But if you right now, and you can go back to 2008, the ice storms, we've had tornadoes, had increasingly I find today's that the bill is being run today to be really interesting with so many schools being closed again due to inclement weather
these cost student contact days that when there's enough of them you simply cannot make up before the exams are given but if you can start the year however many days earlier those days will already have been taught before the inclement weather hits. That is student learning days. That is the days that the teachers get to try to fulfill their contractual requirement to teach the frameworks, have the students learn the standards so that when you get the
test scores back, which triggers AYP, which says whether schools are making adequate yearly progress or not, it's a better reflection of the actual ability of the teachers to have taught and the students to have learned. We talk a lot about international benchmarks, comparing ourselves to other nations, comparing ourselves to other states. If we are truly committed to education, we need to do everything that we can in our powers
to ensure that the standards are being taught and the time is available in which to teach them. Thank you
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
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44:31
very much. CHAIRPERSON WONG. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
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44:37
Harder. Questions? Representative Klemmer. REP. If we're concerned about these test scores, as we should be, what are we doing after the tests are done? I keep hearing reports from schools that once the testing is done, nothing happens.
We test in early May for certain subjects, and, I mean, do we still study after the test, or? I
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love the question, how much time will you give me to answer? And I'm actually
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
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serious on that. Well, that would be up to the chairman. I mean, someone asked me the question, and I'm just, someone said upstairs in this building, This doesn't come from my district
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or anything. Pre-Common Corps, the issue has been which of the frameworks are going to be on the benchmark.
When it was given at the end of March, as a teacher, am I responsible for teaching all nine months in seven months? And it doesn't matter when it's given. It still is what portion of the frameworks are going to be on the benchmarks that I have to cover. So if it is the full year's worth, then in reality, teachers only have eight months to teach nine months' worth of learning. What the question has been asked numerous times is, can you point to, can the department point to which frameworks are going to be on there,
So that then, as an example, if you have the fifth grade teacher with the fifth grade benchmarks, but the exam is given at the end of April, then would that fifth grade teacher then, come the first of May, be responsible for teaching?
teaching the first month's worth of sixth grade frameworks in order to make the full year meaningful and not have that sixth grade teacher only have eight months to teach nine months. But that issue has never been settled. Under Common Core, you're going to have – it's called through testing. There's going to be formative assessments at the 25, 50, 75 percent of the school year, but the final is still giving it 90 percent. So your issue is still the same.
There isn't an answer for it. I have no answer for it, but it's a real, it's a very good question that
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needs an answer. Thank you. I think you helped a little bit
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
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47:21
anyway. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee, any additional questions? Seeing none, Mr. Harder, thank you for your testimony. We don't have anyone else signed up to speak against the bill, but we do have someone else signed up to speak for the bill. At this time, I'd recognize Richard Abernathy, AAEA. Mr. Abernathy, have a seat.
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Identify yourself with the record, please. Good morning, committee, and Mr. Chair. I'm Richard Abernathy, the executive director of the School
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Administrators Association. And first of all, let me just say that's sometimes perceived as the superintendent's group. We are an umbrella association, so we represent superintendents, building-level principals, assistant principals, gifted and talented coordinators, special education administrators. If you're an administrator in Arkansas, you're eligible to be a member of this particular association. We have about 2,400 members, so it's a pretty large group.
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Obviously, we don't have 2,400 superintendents. So when we do come down at the end of the table, we represent a little broader perspective than some may realize. We do think that Mr. Lenderman explained the bill very well. I don't really think I can add anything from what you've already heard. This is about giving school districts a little flexibility. on the start date of the calendar and trust me we're talking about the gentleman said about being greedy we do not want to do anything to hurt tourism marinas i go to the lake about 30
weekends a year hope i'm still able to go to the lake
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after this is over but bottom line is we with high stakes testing with the amount of accountability that is placed on our teachers and on our schools we are really searching
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for ways to add more instructional time before these before these testing dates come up and this is one vehicle that we think we can do it without hurting tourism because it's starting on a monday and so they still have that weekend to go play and hopefully all of them will go play we're not talking about moving football up because we know
that a lot of times when football practice starts that a lot of people can't go on vacation so we're not looking at that date the only thing we're looking for is just the instructional time that our teacher can spin with kids and i'll be glad to answer any questions
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
49:35
but we uh... we are in support of this bill question
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anyone repressor thank you mr chairman be very brief and richard i understand everything that that you're saying that this is important uh... i would just add that i hope you also do uh... just as much research
and finding out ways that that we can in some of this wasted time in schools There's too much time in schools, and if you have kids in school now, you know what I'm talking about. There's too much time in schools today that are just basically wasted. I know we put a lot on you guys, but at
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the same time, let's take advantage of the time that we have already in
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school and make that time as productive as possible. It's interesting you brought that up because we are looking for a sponsor to run a study time over the length of the instructional year. There are several issues with that, and I understand exactly what you're saying.
And Representative Clemmer's question on what happens after the assessments are given is a very legitimate question, and then
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quite honestly, it is a constant battle every year. We're doing okay. Representative Roebuck, you're
recognized for a question or comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Abernathy, when
Representative Johnnie J. Roebuck
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50:48
I made the list here of all the testimony, and I'm putting my cons in one column and my pros in another, but I hear your testimony of saying that the number
one reason that your association is supporting this is student achievement, which is what we're about. But I also understand that the bill provides flexibility for the districts. So have you talked to your association, and I know you represent more than superintendents, but have you talked to the district-level leaders? How many are you estimating will take advantage of this if we were to pass this? We have not conducted a
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poll, but I would expect that most of them would take advantage of this.
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Do you have superintendents within your association that have notified you that they are in opposition
Representative Johnnie J. Roebuck
Unverified
51:38
to this bill? I've not had any superintendents notify me that
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they are in opposition to it because it does allow flexibility. If they don't want to start on that particular Monday, they can back that up. Sometimes we do have school districts that start later because there may be a construction project they're trying to complete, and they knew that, and so they schedule their time, their calendar later, and so that option is still available for them.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
52:05
i have represented representative pierce then hutchinson and then summers thank you mr chair uh mr abernanti i
Representative Bobby J. Pierce
Unverified
52:12
got a question you i heard it from the school board association i'm hearing it from you if i'm hearing this right you're
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all both of you saying we got to have the days we got to have the days to do this we don't have enough days in school because the teachers are that are we asking for a longer school year is this basically what You're asking far from both of us?
Not yet. Not yet. But do you not agree? I'll ask you this. Do you not agree? I just was told that the teachers have more time than we've got wasted time in our classrooms. My wife was a teacher for almost 30 years, and if you're teaching, you're not wasting time in there. But if you're wasting time, you're not a very good teacher. I'll put it that way, and I'll hold up for the teachers that are studying. But if we're this far behind, why do we not ask for a longer school year and go ahead and get this done with? because we're still on the 19th century education thing. We've got to start when the farmers start, and we've got to end when the farming stops.
So what's your thing on that, sir? We
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have actually – let me back up. I have actually been asking
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that same question since pre-Lakeview on when are we going to look at the instructional gear and the time that our teachers have allotted to teach kids because when you look at the research that's out there, there's not enough time. When you start pulling out testing time, when you start pulling out some of the requirements that our teachers are currently having to do and be held accountable for, it even reduces the time more.
So before we even start the year, our teachers are currently 10% to 20% behind just on instructional time. The representative still brought up the question about there is wasted time during the day. Some of that may be mandated. Some of that may be what the teachers actually do in the classroom. Some of it may be what the building principal schedules or the superintendent schedules. And in my personal opinion, all that needs to be looked at. If we're going to Common Core, which I truly support that, and we're going to be compared to other nations around the world, and if these standards are internationally benchmarked, which they are,
then we have to look at what other countries are doing with the amount of time their teachers have to teach kids. And when you do look at that, you'll see real quick that we're behind. So we can continue and offer more tests and more accountability and get the whip out and just keep cracking it, bottom line, our teachers don't have enough
Representative Bobby J. Pierce
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54:30
time to teach kids right now. Well, ma'am. Sir. Thank you, Mr.
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Chair. Well, we have a sign here that says we're not giving enough time to do the teaching,
but if they're required to give all these tests and stuff, test after test, and they're required to meet these certain things, and then we go back and say, okay, you know, you're wasting time in class, That is the principal's part to make sure that they are not wasting that time, and it's our part to make sure that we keep adding stuff. You know, we just keep throwing stuff out there. You've got to do this. You've got to do that. But you can only get so much out of an eight-hour day. That's correct. And most teachers, if they're doing their job correctly, they are doing more than eight hours a day. Teachers who are doing
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their job correctly are doing a lot more than eight hours a day
Representative Bobby J. Pierce
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55:12
and a lot more than 190 days
Representative Donna Hutchinson
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55:21
a year. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll quit. Okay. Representative Hutchinson. Thank you very much. When you
do this study on what to do after the testing, I am surprised there's even a need to discuss that. We have 23% of the students that go to college, have to take remediation in reading, and it goes up higher in math and English. I would think with those stats, we should be teaching them and having them catch up that last month.
I can't believe we're even discussing what should we do. Apparently, there are, you know, was the question, should they go ahead and teach sixth grade? By this stats, they aren't finishing teaching fifth grade, if we have that many who have to take reading in college. So I think we need to start reaching the markers at each grade level and don't worry about what are we going to do after the big testing season's over.
Those students need to learn before they leave their last day of school. Thank you. If I could just
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respond to that real quick because I want to make sure that I'm clear. When we're talking
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about the instructional time after the test and what are we doing, And those teachers who are really doing their job and those building-level administrators really doing their job, they don't have to look around and try to find something to do. So those aren't really the ones that I'm talking about. But it is a problem, especially in spring, after the test is done, because you're held so accountable for that test.
And it's like once that test is given, okay, I can now breathe a little bit. But now the teachers who are actually performing their duties, they're not looking
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
57:07
around for something to do. Okay, let's see. I have Representative Summers, then Carnine, and then Dickinson. Thank
Representative Tim Summers
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57:15
you, Mr. Chairman. And Dr. Abernathy, you're in the barrel now, so I'm going to hit you with this. We've got a room full of people here that are educators and one or two business people.
And I just get the strong feeling that we don't pay, and I'll get this in a question I hope that you can answer, that we don't pay nearly enough attention to the people that pay the bills, the people that pay the taxes here. We've got overwhelming support for this, obviously, but when are we going to be considerate of the people that come to us and say this puts a burden on us? Do you feel like we've really given enough consideration to the folks
that if they don't make a profit, they're out of business, unfortunately, not like the rest of us. Do
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you understand my question? I think I do, and obviously I'm very sensitive
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to hospitality, and especially the people around the lake because that's where I grew up and that's what I love. But when I'm looking at the numbers, and I just got this today, and I see the numbers of $532 million that were spent in May when kids were present the entire month of May,
And then in August, $529 million when kids were out of school half the month. I'm not sure if we can equate the revenue and expenditure brought in by hospitality on this report as whether or not when kids are in school. And I understand the weather's better in August. I also understand if you've had kids, you can understand the SAP rises in the spring and ready to get out. So we don't want to do anything to hurt our hospitality group. And at the same time, if we're really going to be held accountable for high-stakes testing,
which I do think the world is going that way, then we need more time before the test is given. So to answer your question, I don't know if that answered it or not, but we certainly are sensitive to the needs of a variety of
Representative Tim Summers
Unverified
59:23
more focused on kids. Well, you gave me an opportunity to express my concern. I realize the need for the testing, but I'm not an educator, obviously, and I don't think we pay nearly enough attention to the business community's contribution to the taxpayers' contribution to this,
and we've got to always be aware of that. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
59:51
Chairman. Thank you. We have Representative Carnine. Thank
you, Mr. Chair. Representative, I'm looking at this from the standpoint that we have a bill to provide some flexibility, essentially. And I'm looking at it from the standpoint, as I think I understand, that the major problem is that that date starts on Friday this year unless we change it, correct?
I believe that's correct. Is that the reason, really, that we are considering this? And most often, this compromise that was negotiated with the tourism industry and others really was working fairly well, except for when the date to start school is on a Friday, and obviously most of us can recognize the problems with that. But I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm concerned that we didn't attempt to bring together all the parties to try to find a way to deal with this because once it happens, obviously on Friday, it will rotate, and that will come up in a few years again in the future.
But it hasn't been a problem up until that time. Now, saying all of that, I'd almost suggest that if I'm lucky enough to be in this place in a year, I'd probably offer another bill to change it back if, in fact, we work with the industry to find a compromise solution. Again, I understand, I guess, what I'm saying is that I understand why we're here. I am concerned that we haven't brought everybody to the table to get it there and to simply
provide for a solution for the year that we end up on Friday for the start of school. I do want to say that I think that trying to make international comparisons in education when we have a school year of less than 180 days, when most of those countries we're comparing ourselves with are well over 200. Doesn't make much sense. We don't have apples to apples. So I do, I understand your sensitivity to what you're talking about the total school year.
Actually, I'm conflicted. I'm for flexibility because I understand the need not to start school on Friday. That doesn't make any sense. But at the same time, I almost want to say I'm not for this bill because all the parties weren't at the table. We just kind of dropped it in. So I think I understand the education people from that standpoint because that's been my life, as you all know. But I do think there's a real reason to find solutions beyond a one-year need
to get this flexibility piece in there. Past that, yes, we need to lengthen the school year. I don't think there's any question in that. We want world-class results, then we ought to provide a, as Representative Pierce said, a time period that teachers have to think. That's an expensive solution, and at some point
in time, we're going to have to address that. Mr. Chair, I would offer a due pass at the appropriate time.
But, again, I'm very conflicted that we haven't got
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
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1:03:23
everybody at the table. Thank you, Representative Cronin. Representative Dickerson, do you
Representative Jody Dickinson
Unverified
1:03:28
have a question or a comment? Thank
you, Mr. Chairman. A little both. Once the test date is set and everybody is aware of it, But can we assume that these same families would just know to move their vacation time up a little bit? Because four or five days in August, it's not going to be a whole lot of difference in the weather.
And I guess that's the question. But the real thing that I want to say here, after being a teacher for 34 years, I'll say that any teacher who does not teach until the very last day of school, the last period of school, is doing themselves a disfavor. Because a classroom of children working is a whole lot more manageable and easier to work with than when you give them free time. You're asking for problems. You're exactly right.
I've never been in a classroom before. Now my question is, do
you agree? Yes, ma'am, I do. Okay. Thank you, Representative Dixon, so well thought out. Mr.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:04:38
Abernathy, thank you for your testimony. Committee, we have one gentleman that got here a little late because of the weather, and we are going to allow him to come to the table. Mr. Barnes, if you would come to the chair there and identify yourself. Mr. Barnes is speaking against the bill.
Bill Barnes
Unverified
1:04:57
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Bill Barnes, and I live at Mountain Harbor on Lake Ouachita. I apologize for showing up late. The weather's a little bit bad, and I found out this morning that the bill was coming up today, so I've driven 100 miles to get here. I want to speak against the bill because I believe with all my heart that it is inappropriate, And I believe that there are other solutions that could be found that would, and I'm sorry
I wasn't here to hear more of the testimony, I could speak more pointedly, but other solutions could possibly be found that would address the concerns of education. I have three kids, five grandkids, and I've had a bunch of them go through school, and I recognize that there is a need to teach the kids better. I also recognize that there is a need to provide family time for our families and our kids.
I've been in the resort business all of my life, and this is my 42nd year to run Mountain Harbor. So I've watched a lot of generations come through the resort. What I understand is that there seems to be an opinion that a few days in August doesn't make any difference because those days will be out in June. or in May, or depending on snow days, whenever. Unfortunately, based on my personal experience, that is not at all what happens.
And just, I know y'all are ready to go, and I know I walked in at the last minute, but our summer season, as you have already heard, has been decreased substantially, generally because of the need for more school days. It's been a battle we've fought for 20 years. August traditionally was the family vacation month that was when the kids were done with governor state and cheerleading practice and little leagues and all of those basketball camps and football camps
and the families would come to the lake that has been severely affected already because of the fact that school starts mid-August since school starts mid-August A whole lot of people involved with education and the kids involved with activities start August 1st. Teachers go back. Cheerleading practices start. Football practices start. Band practices start.
The psyche changes from summer to fall. kids the families make their plans to spend some time together toward the end of summer because that's the only time they have left to do that the theory that this doesn't affect our business because they get out a few days earlier unfortunately just isn't correct because when school gets out
whether it's on the 26th of May or the 3rd of June has no bearing whatsoever on when they take their vacations because that's when they regroup from the school year. They are making their plans for the summer, but all of the early summer activities are still in front of them. by letting school start even if it's three or four days earlier
you throw all of the preparatory people into July you affect the ability of families to have some vacation time you increase the cost of operating schools you affect the kids and we still have a lot of them that work in the summer to make money for the school year. You affect that. And it isn't something that can be made up when school gets out.
I know that you all get sick of hearing about our industry and what it does and how you affect it. But it really is the truth, ladies and gentlemen. When I was a kid, we got out before Memorial Day and we went back after Labor Day. And there were three months of summer season. And August was the biggest of those months. And Labor Day was the biggest weekend. Memorial Day is no longer a particularly significant weekend
because a bunch of schools go back after Memorial Day or going almost until then. Fourth of July is great. Labor Day is no longer a significant weekend at all. It does affect our income. Our business drops by 50% or 60% when school starts, which is mid-August. But it also affects how much we pay in taxes. I don't know whether you've heard testimony on how much this affects the state's daily revenues or not yet.
But I can tell you it affects our daily revenue. It affects, we employ 50 kids in the summer. It affects our ability to employ them. It affects our ability to pay them. But the most important thing that I want you all to think about, August is when families still get together. And I don't know how many here have kids or how many here have grandkids, But I will tell you that in my 40 years at Mountain Harbor,
what I have seen is a dramatic impact on the time people get to spend together as families because of the level of activity, which is primarily in June and July, and taking another week away from their ability to get together, coupled with the economic impact I think is inappropriate and I don't think it's in the best interest of our citizens or our state.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:11:22
Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Barnes. Committee, seeing no hands for questions, Mr. Barnes, you're excused. We thank you for your testimony. Mr. Linderman, at this point, we'll come back to you if you want to close for your
bill or any comments you have. Okay, thank you very much. I do appreciate the testimony. and I've been told that there's two sides to every issue, and obviously there's a lot more than that. I wish to read this letter. It says, I just wanted to pass along support for HB 1099 from Rogers School District.
They see this bill as a big improvement that will result in more efficient scheduling, better use of staff, and will allow a few more days to prepare for benchmarks exams. I wish you luck in committee and will pass along this recommendation to the five committee members from Benton County. Thanks. Michael, Lindsay, Rogers, Lowell, Chamber of Commerce. We've heard different testimony here today, and everybody has a different opinion about this. This bill does not add an extra week to the school year.
It does not change anything other than the fact it allows the school flexibility in their starting date. In August of 2011, school will either start on a Friday, or if this bill passes, that school could start on Monday. That weekend is still going to be used up. That time is still going to start. I would like to bring your attention to this, and I will close very briefly. But in May of 2010, the 2% collections showed $1,081,000.
dollars. Students were in school throughout the month of May. They showed August when the students were out of school for over half the month at the collections of one million and seventy-five thousand. June was a million three hundred and two thousand. July obviously a million three hundred and eighty-one thousand. Below that, total travel expenditures were five hundred and thirty-one million dollars in May when the students were in school versus August, which was 529 million
when the students were out. I do not believe that this bill will adversely impact our economy and our tourism industry. Obviously some people do, but these figures came from the Parks and Tourism Department that were supplied to me yesterday. I am always and will always be on the side of the students. I believe the students will benefit. I believe this bill is about student achievement and about our effectiveness in educating those students,
and I would appreciate a due pass on this bill. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lindemann.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:14:09
Thank you for your time. Committee, we're back to you. Any discussion? Seeing no discussion, we have a motion for Mr. Curnine. You had a motion, I believe. Mr. Chairman, I recommend do pass Okay Committee, the motion before the committee is do pass All those in
favor Indicate by saying aye Aye Those opposed, no
No I believe the ayes have it Mr. Lindman, you have passed your bill Thank you, sir Committee, we have a couple more bills I'm not sure, Mr. Stewart,
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:14:50
are you ready to run your bill today? Okay, Ms. Stewart, you're recognized to get to the end of the table there. We'll look at House Bill 1224, committee. It should be in your numerical order, I
believe, in your packet. And I think there may be a physical impact statement also attached.
Speaker 201
1:15:19
I'm serious. If I'm here, I'll bring a bill back,
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
1:15:30
change it back in a second. So we'll get to do two of them. That's ridiculous. They put us in a difficult position like that. I mean, that's... Ms. Stewart, do you need a copy of your bill?
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
1:15:49
Okay. Identify yourself with the record, please. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm Representative Stewart. Bill 1224 is
a continuation of a bill run by Senator Broadway last session, which did a trial period for a common spring break. It also put in an advisory committee to come back and report on that trial period. And this legislation would extend it for two more years, which was part of the original
agreement under the trial period. To the best amount of knowledge, everybody is still in concurrence that this is a good idea, the superintendent association, schools, et cetera, that the common spring break is effective. And as you can tell by the changes, all we did was change the dates so that this will be in effect for the next two school years, next biennium. There's no fiscal
impact, and I'll entertain any questions. Okay. Representative Steele, you have a question? No, Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 185
1:16:53
do pass as appropriate. Okay. All right. Ms. Clemmer, you have a question
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
1:16:57
or comment. Question. Representative Stewart, if we make the beginning of the school year, if that should pass, if that is now flexible, will
Speaker 72
1:17:06
that affect a common spring break? I don't think it will because the week that
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
1:17:15
they'll start is still a common week. That's still a week of school, and the spring break is the 38th week of the school year.
So much like the start date of football,
this will not change. It'll still be the 38th week of the school
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:17:32
year. Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none, we'll go to the audience. We have two people that have signed up
to speak for this bill. So, Mr. Harder, I have you first. Have a seat
Speaker 54
1:17:51
and identify yourself, please. Mr. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee.
Speaker 151
1:17:55
Just very briefly, and Lance Taylor could address this much better than I, but it came up in the last bill and again in this bill, which is, and this plays right into it, is to try to have a commonality based on the triple a calendar which starts july first and so this calendars this break is based off of the triple a which is by the way not the arctic arkansas athletic association but the arkansas activities association because it does cover everything
Speaker 54
1:18:26
that so we we support this bill and it was a compromise uh... worked out last session
Representative Donna Hutchinson
Unverified
1:18:36
Thank you. Committee, Representative Hutchinson. Just so I understand it, if the bill we voted
on earlier, one school starts August 15th and another school starts August 25th, you will still have spring break, according to the AAA, 38 weeks. Yes, which is based off July 1st.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:18:57
Thank you. Thank you for that clarification.
Any other questions, committee? Seeing none, Donna Moray, AEA, is here to speak
Speaker 132
1:19:13
for the bill. Good morning again. This has been working. We have educators and families that in some situations, educator would teach in one district, their children went to another, they had different spring breaks.
As far as scheduling athletic events, if you know that's a spring break, it's just been a good thing. So we support it.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:19:40
Thank you. Thank you. Representative Hopper, excuse me, Representative Hopper, Ms. Hobbs has been so active today, I'm sorry. Thank
Speaker 211
1:19:49
you, Mr. Chair. You're not the first. It's almost a daily occurrence, but I take it
Representative Karen S. Hopper
Unverified
1:19:54
as a positive, Representative Hobbs. I just need a little bit more help here, and that is going back to the question of if a
school district, one opts to start on the 15th, another opts to start on the 26th,
Speaker 213
1:20:11
and based on earlier discussion about days of instruction, you have to help me out
Representative Karen S. Hopper
Unverified
1:20:19
here as in when the test dates fall, i.e., would that potentially put some students getting more days of instruction prior to the test than others i'm sorry i just can't compute all this help me here that
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
1:20:35
would be a possibility the the uh...
the test dates and the spring breaks are set and that's been a positive because some schools before their spring breaks were before the testing or after testing so now they know for a fact when spring break is and we know when the testing period is it would uh... if you change the the start date of school by three or four days that would make that much difference on a given school but that would be the only the only thing that there the uh... test dates are locked in in the spring breaks are locked in
so the only time difference would be best potential three or four days at the very beginning of
Representative Karen S. Hopper
Unverified
1:21:15
school one follow-up question when are the test dates And I'll
Speaker 141
1:21:21
defer over to the department. We have someone in the audience
Speaker 165
1:21:25
who wants to come forward and give those dates.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:21:28
Ron? Is it the third week of April? Third week of April?
Speaker 93
1:21:33
That sounds pretty close to me. I believe they're the third week of April.
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:21:39
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Tony, where are you at? Third week of April? Is that pretty close? I think that's
pretty close any other questions seeing none committee I believe we have a go back to Representative Steele you have a motion yes sir Mr. Chairman motion do pass committee motion do pass has been proposed
all those in favor say aye those opposed no thank you Mr. Stewart you passed your bill committee we have two other bills on
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:22:17
our agenda today i don't think mr hall is here to run his and miss webb i believe you told me you were not going to it you are or not you are
Representative Kathy Webb
Unverified
1:22:27
not thank you mr chair i have an amendment which i'll circulate this afternoon and i'd like to run
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
1:22:32
it next tuesday thank you very much committee any other business any other questions or comments if not thank you for your attendance and thank you for your participation meeting adjourned
Agenda
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Eddie L. Cheatham
Unverified
Representative Johnnie J. Roebuck
Unverified
Speaker 5
Speaker 8
Representative Homer Lenderman Chair
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
Speaker 38
Speaker 26
Speaker 43
Representative Donna Hutchinson
Unverified
Speaker 54
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
Representative Tim Summers
Unverified
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
Speaker 75
Speaker 78
Speaker 82
Speaker 76
Montene Mcnulty
Unverified
Speaker 90
Speaker 99
Speaker 102
Speaker 103
Speaker 104
Speaker 91
Speaker 108
Speaker 89
Speaker 107
Speaker 111
Speaker 114
Speaker 95
Speaker 56
Speaker 128
Speaker 131
Speaker 132
Speaker 125
Speaker 135
Speaker 137
Speaker 145
Speaker 146
Speaker 93
Speaker 151
Speaker 154
Speaker 85
Speaker 160
Speaker 161
Speaker 162
Speaker 163
Speaker 64
Speaker 170
Representative Bobby J. Pierce
Unverified
Speaker 172
Speaker 182
Speaker 184
Representative Les "Skip" Carnine
Unverified
Representative Jody Dickinson
Unverified
Bill Barnes
Unverified
Speaker 201
Speaker 185
Speaker 72
Speaker 211
Representative Karen S. Hopper
Unverified
Speaker 213
Speaker 141
Speaker 165
Representative Kathy Webb
Unverified