Board to change "virtual PD" language to "emergency professional development" to allow make-up days

The superintendent told the board it plans to change the district's calendar language from "virtual professional development" to "emergency professional development" so the district can convert some previously scheduled virtual professional-development days into make-up days that count as regular school days if needed. The superintendent said the revision responds to a recent change in law and that the change will be placed on next month's agenda for board consideration.

Explaining the rationale, the superintendent said the district has enough hours in its calendar to cover instruction without relying on virtual PD days for makeup time and described past years when several virtual days were taken and complicated the calendar. The superintendent said, “We just changed the wording from our virtual days to emergency p from virtual prep professional development to emergency professional development. So that if something comes up, then we need to make up a day. Because we have enough hours in our calendar to make it work without having those virtual flash PD. They don't really need to be virtual.”

Board members did not record a formal vote on the wording change in the transcript; the superintendent said the wording change will be added to the agenda next month and noted calendars printed with the prior phrasing may not yet be board approved. The superintendent also referenced that a "new law" affects the timing and implementation of the change but did not cite the law by name during remarks recorded in the transcript.

The superintendent described the change as administrative wording intended to give the district flexibility to convert days when necessary; no funding implications or changes to collective-bargaining contract language were specified on the record.