The University of the State of New York
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
State Aid Unit
Albany, New York 12234

School Year, Extraordinary Condition Days, Examination Days, Superintendent's
Conference Days, Length of School Day and Student Attendance
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The following provides guidance and clarification regarding the length of the school day, the number and use of superintendent's conference days and the proper use of examination and extraordinary condition days.

1. Days of Session
   
   School districts must be in session for all students, including students with disabilities, for not less than 180 days. Included in the 180 days are days on which attendance is taken, days on which Regents examinations, State Assessments or local examinations are given and days on which superintendent's conference days are held.
   
   
School district officials may not claim partial or full attendance on days when classes are not in actual session. This situation is most likely to occur on Regents examination days or superintendent's conference days. Such days do count toward the 180 required days, but, since they are not days of actual session, they do not affect and are not factored into average daily attendance. (Education Law 3604(7)).


2. Legal Holidays
   
   School district officials may not schedule days of session on a Saturday or a legal holiday, except Election Day, Washington's Birthday or Lincoln's Birthday. (Education Law 3604(8)).
   
   Legal holidays include: New Year's Day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Flag Day (second Sunday in June), Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.
   
   
3. Extraordinary Conditions
   
   The length of school day requirement does not apply if schools open late or close early due to extraordinary circumstances beyond their control. Each year, some school districts lose whole days, however, because of circumstances beyond their control (i.e., winter weather, utility failure). The Commissioner is authorized to excuse up to five days for extraordinary circumstances, if those lost days of instruction could not have been made up by using, for the secondary grades, all scheduled vacation days which occur prior to the first scheduled Regents examination day in June, and, for the elementary grades, all scheduled vacation days which occur prior to the last scheduled Regents examination day in June. Scheduled vacation days that may be used include days of religious observation associated with Passover, Easter and other religious holidays. Only Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays are excluded from days that may be used for this purpose. Requests for excusal must be made in writing to the Education Department at the close of the school year. If scheduled vacation days and days waived by the Commissioner are insufficient and the school district still remains one or more days short of the 180 days, the district may schedule additional sessions after Regents examinations, through June 30, to satisfy the length of session requirement.
   
   In the event that only one building in a district will be short the required days of session because of some extraordinary condition, the day(s) for only that building must be made up by using all scheduled vacation days before an excusal can be given. The only exception is an occasion where a school opens late or closes early and the half-day kindergarten is excused from attendance as a result of that action. Under no circumstances may kindergarten pupils who miss a day of session be counted in attendance for that day. Further, the day may not be made up by having the half-day group meet twice on the same day. Because of the impracticability of opening schools, running buses, and bringing in teachers and pupils to make up half-day kindergarten classes at a time when other classes are not in session, excusals for half-day kindergarten (up to five for a.m. sessions and five for p.m. sessions) will be given under these special circumstances. Such requests for excusal must be made on the State Aid claim forms submitted to the Education Department. (Education Law 3604(7)).
   
   A declaration of a State of Emergency by the Governor due to adverse weather conditions does not authorize the school districts affected to operate an annual session of less than 180 days.
   
   Since statute requires a minimum of 180 days of session, school districts cannot extend the regular school day and count the extended times as additional days of session to make up lost days.



4. Regents Days
   
   Regents examination days count toward fulfilling the 180 required days of instruction, but schools need not take attendance on such days. If grades 7-12 are housed in the same building, school district officials may excuse the junior high school pupils and the senior high school pupils from the daily instructional requirement if their class schedules are disrupted by the Regents examination schedule and if staff are needed to properly administer examinations. Under no circumstances may attendance be assumed and claimed for aid purposes on these days. (Commissioner's Regulations 175.2)
   
   June 13 Afternoon Regents Testing and State Aid
   
   

   For school year 2006-07, the afternoon of June 13, 2007 will be used for holding Regents examinations. All schools are expected to offer instruction in the morning. Adhering to the above Commissioner’s Regulations, June 13 will count towards satisfying the required 180 days of instruction only if instruction is offered in the morning. Attendance is required to be taken in the morning and the attendance figure will be counted in the calculation of average daily attendance for State aid purposes. Under no circumstances may attendance be assumed and claimed for aid purposes on June 13; however, districts may omit the record of attendance for pupils in the grade levels in which the June 13 examinations are given for the purpose of calculating average daily attendance for State aid.

5. New York State Assessments
   
   Days on which New York State Assessments are given are days on which attendance must be taken and which count toward the 180 required days of session. Under no circumstances may pupils be excused from the daily instructional requirement.
   
   Some students with disabilities, who are in general education classrooms, do not participate in regular State or local assessments as determined by the Committee on Special Education. When students with disabilities are not participating in particular regular State or local assessments, instruction must be provided to them during the days that other children are being assessed in these regular assessments. Instruction must be provided regardless of what special education services the student receives or the setting in which that student's special education program is provided. The instruction may be provided by such individuals as a general education teacher, special education teacher or teacher assistant.



6. Local Final Examinations
   
   If middle school, junior high school or senior high school pupils take local final examinations during the four-day Regents period in January or the seven-day Regents period in June in a block-time format similar to the format for Regents examinations (exams scheduled for both the morning and the afternoon), school district officials need not secure written Department approval for this exception to the minimum length of the school day. Such days count toward the 180 required days of instruction and attendance for the grades taking the tests need not be taken. If, however, local final exams in June are held on days before the Regents examination days, all students must be required to attend, attendance must actually be recorded and the day must meet the length of school day regulations in order to be counted toward meeting the 180-day requirement for the year.



7. Last Day of School
   
   Pupils must attend school on the last scheduled day of session for the school year unless a superintendent's conference day is held on that date. However, if the school schedules individual work for that day with students, such as conferences, special guidance or scheduling, school officials may schedule an early dismissal for pupils who do not require such attention.



8. Shortened Sessions
   
   School district officials may schedule as many as four shortened school sessions each semester for parent-teacher or staff conferences, provided that, during the week in which shortened sessions occur, the minimum number of hours of instruction for the week is provided; that is, 25 hours for elementary schools and 27.5 hours for secondary schools, excluding lunch. Written approval from the Education Department for such exceptions to the length of school day regulation is not required. Use of this procedure does not reduce the number of superintendent's conference days the district is allowed.
   
   For weeks in which a legal holiday occurs and a district wishes to schedule a shortened session, the minimum number of hours of instruction for the week is 20 hours for elementary schools and 22 hours for secondary schools, excluding lunch.
   
   School district officials may combine a shortened instructional session and one or more hours of a superintendent's conference day to satisfy the minimum daily session requirements. On such days the combined total of instructional time and superintendent's conference time must equal the minimum daily session required of 5.0 hours in the elementary grades or 5.5 hours in the secondary grades, and the superintendent's conference hours must be used for staff development activities related to implementation of high learning standards and assessments. For half-day kindergartens, school officials must schedule kindergarten sessions alternately when schools are conducting shortened sessions. This procedure permits school officials to schedule the afternoon kindergarten classes on one short day and the morning kindergarten classes on another, with the net instructional time remaining the same for the morning and afternoon classes. (Education Law 3602(4))



9. Superintendent's Conference Days
   
   Superintendent's conference days may include general staff orientation, curriculum development, inservice education or parent-teacher conferences. School officials may not use superintendent's conference days for routine administrative matters, such as grading examinations or pupil assignments, recordkeeping or lesson planning except for the provision of the amendment to the Commissioner's Regulation 175.5. The amendment to section 175.5 allows a school district to use up to two of the allowed four superintendent's conference days in each school year for teacher training and rating of State assessments, including but not limited to grades 3-8 assessments required under the federal No Child Left Behind act of 2001. This amendment has an effective date of September 29, 2005 through June 30, 2009.
   
   Four superintendent's conference days may be used, provided that at least two of the four days are used for staff development activities related to implementation of high learning standards and assessments, as adopted by the Board of Regents. School districts may use one or more of the four superintendent's conference days in units of not less than one hour each for staff development activities related to implementation of high learning standards and assessments. Such staff development hours conducted during the regularly scheduled daily session may be used to satisfy a deficiency in the length of the instructional session for such day. Superintendent's conference days may occur before the first day of instruction, on the first day of instruction, at any time during the school year and on or after the last day of instruction. A conference day may not be claimed for any day during July or August, on a legal holiday, on a Saturday, or on a Sunday. Prior approval of superintendent's conference days by the Education Department is not required. (Education Law 3604(8))
   
   For all districts other than New York City, dates for superintendent's conferences may be chosen on a building-level basis, which allows four different dates for each building in the district. For New York City, a different set of four dates is allowed for each community school district, as well as for the High School Division. In no case may the number of conference days allowed for any school building, in a district or in a New York City community school district or the High School Division, exceed four days toward fulfilling the 180 required days of instruction. Districts need to report a summary of days of session by building, and have available the calculation of attendance data by building.



10. Required Use of Superintendent's Conference Days in Conjunction with Project SAVE
    
    Chapter 181 of the Laws of 2000 enacted a comprehensive Safe Schools Against Violence in Education program (Project SAVE) that includes specific requirements that school district staff receive appropriate school violence prevention and intervention training through staff development programs provided on superintendent's conference days. The statute provides that the Commissioner of Education may require that up to one superintendent's conference day per year shall be dedicated for such purpose.



11. Length of School Day
    
    The minimum length of school day for purposes of generating State Aid is 2.5 hours for half-day kindergarten, 5.0 hours for full-day kindergarten through grade 6 and 5.5 hours for grades 7-12. These hours are exclusive of the time allowed for lunch. If school district officials establish a school calendar in excess of 180 required days, the excess days need not comply with the mandated daily time requirements. (Commissioner's Regulations 175.5)
    
    Students of compulsory attendance age must be scheduled for attendance upon instruction for the entire time the school is in session. The term session refers to the period during which instruction is provided. However, such daily sessions may include supervised study periods, supervised cooperative work study, release time for college study or school-to-work programs, and as well as traditional classroom instructional activities. (Education Law 3210(1))



12. Inclusion in Average Daily Attendance of Full-Time Regular Day School Students
    
    Students included on the regular day school register generally should be enrolled or scheduled for a full day's session of schooling as such session is defined in Section 175.5 of Commissioner's Regulations. A student's enrollment or scheduling in such a daily session represents full-time instructional status and authorizes the school district to claim the attendance of such a student in the average daily attendance of the school day for State Aid purposes.



13. Inclusion in Average Daily Attendance of Students Receiving Homebound or Hospital Instruction
    
    Students receiving homebound or hospital instruction provided by a public school district may be included in the average daily attendance of the school district's regular school day for the purposes of calculating State Aid, provided that each such student shall receive instruction as follows:
    1. At the elementary school level, each pupil shall receive at least five hours of instruction per week. To the extent possible, at least one hour of instruction shall be provided each day.
    2. At the secondary school level, each pupil shall receive at least 10 hours of instruction per week. To the extent possible, at least two hours of instruction shall be provided each day. (Commissioner's Regulations 175.21)


14. Equivalent Attendance of Other Students Attending Upon Part-Time Instruction
    
    The attendance of students between the ages of 16 and 21 enrolled either in a regular day school part-time or in an alternative school not meeting the minimum session requirements of Section 175.5, and who are pursuing programs leading to a high school diploma or a high school equivalency diploma, should be recorded in hourly instructional units. One thousand such hourly units equal one unit of equivalent average daily attendance for the purposes of calculating State Aid.



15. Curtailed Sessions Under Certain Conditions
    
    In certain instances it may be necessary for a school district to conduct curtailed, or shortened sessions in one or more grade levels or school buildings for a brief period in order to cope with an emergency situation such as the destruction of one school building requiring double or overlapping sessions in another building to accommodate the displaced classes. Such curtailed sessions must be requested in writing by the school district and approved by the Commissioner. For further information regarding operation of curtailed sessions outside New York City, please contact the State Aid Unit, New York State Education Department, Room 507 West Wing, Education Building, Albany, New York 12234; telephone: (518) 474-2977; fax: (518) 473-2912. For information regarding operation of curtailed sessions in New York City, please contact the Office of New York City School and Community Services, New York State Education Department, Room 375 Education Building Annex, Albany, New York 12234; telephone: (518) 474-4715; fax: (518) 474-4275.