The Portland Public Schools (PPS) Board has approved a comprehensive plan to ensure that students can make up for the instructional time lost during the severe winter weather experienced earlier this year. The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) requires students in different grade levels to receive a specific number of instructional hours annually. To meet these requirements, the PPS Board devised a strategy to address the remaining lost time during a meeting held on Tuesday evening.
In mid-January, PPS was forced to cancel classes for several days due to extreme weather conditions. To accommodate these disruptions, ODE waived 14 instructional hours for all grade levels. However, kindergarteners missed a total of 17 hours of school, leaving them short of the required 900 instructional hours set by education officials. To make up for this lost time, PPS has developed a plan for these students to compensate throughout the month of April.
During this period, kindergarteners will swap out 15 minutes of recess for additional instructional time on 20 selected days. This adjustment will allow them to gain the necessary hours and meet the educational requirements mandated by ODE.
High school seniors also have instructional hours to account for, with a total of 24 remaining. To address this, PPS has made amendments to the planned Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) day. Instead of a regular testing day, it will now be converted into a full instructional day, providing an additional two hours of class time. Furthermore, an extra day has been added to the senior calendar on May 31, extending the school day by at least five and a half hours.
Despite the efforts made by PPS, the new resolution indicates that most high schools within the district will still fall at least 10 hours short of meeting the required instructional hours. However, the board remains committed to ensuring that students receive the best possible education and will continue to explore options to mitigate this discrepancy.
