(a) The State Board of Education may waive the fiscal penalties set forth in this article for a school district or county office of education that fails to maintain the prescribed minimum length of time for the instructional school year, minimum number of instructional days for the school year, or both.
(b) For fiscal penalties incurred as a result of a shortfall on instructional time in the 2000–01 fiscal year or thereafter, a waiver may only be granted pursuant to subdivision (a) upon the condition that the school or schools in which the minutes, days, or both, were lost, maintain minutes and days of instruction equal to those lost and in addition to the amount otherwise prescribed in this article for twice the number of years that it failed to maintain the prescribed minimum length of time for the instructional school year, minimum number of instructional days for the school year following the year, or both, commencing not later than the school year following the year in which the waiver was granted and continuing for each succeeding school year until the condition is satisfied. Compliance with the condition shall be specifically verified in the report of the annual audit of the school district or county office of education for each year in which the additional time is to be maintained. If an audit report for a year in which the additional time is to be maintained does not verify that the time was provided, that finding shall be addressed as set forth in Section 41344.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that school districts and county offices of education make every effort to make up any instructional days and minutes lost during the school year in which the loss occurred, rather than seeking a waiver pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(d) The State Board of Education may grant a waiver pursuant to subdivision (a) without the condition provided in subdivision (b) to any school district that maintained a single session kindergarten class in the 1982–83 school year for more than the maximum number of 240 minutes permitted by state law and that, due to the school district’s growth and facilities limitations, is required to operate two sessions of kindergarten per day in the same classroom.
(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 942, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2003.)