Following the teachers strike, thousands of students and staff members were absent from Portland Public Schools. The strike led to an extended school week to make up for the missed instructional days. However, the added week of classes saw a substantial decline in attendance. Over 9,000 students, accounting for approximately 20% of the student body, were absent from Portland schools. Furthermore, more than 550 teachers were also absent.
Two hundred fouty-six classified employees, i.e., paraeducators, bus drivers, custodians and food service workers, requested subs for the week, totaling 853 requests over five days. There were nearly twice as many substitute teacher requests this year. The district had anticipated a significant number of student absences during the added week of school. It was estimated that between 2,400 and 3,240 students would be absent on any given day throughout the week.
Dec. 18-22 was the block of days initially scheduled for winter break. These days were turned into vacation days. These school days were to make up for time lost during the recent teachers strike that closed schools for more than three weeks. This was an agreement supported by district and union leaders.
Deputy superintendent for PPS, Cheryl Proctor, sent a letter to families in early December explaining that the district knew some families had plans they couldn’t break and that absences will not count against the students. The district requested families give schools as much warning as possible for the days their students would be absent so educators could prepare.
Oregon law requires schools to provide 900 or more hours of instructional time each year. Sharon Reese, the PPS chief human resources officer, had previously stated that the district needed to make up more than 3,600 minutes (60 hours) of lost time.
