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Chester County Schools plans weekly common planning time; board raises concerns about elementary logistics and food waste
Summary
Director Kilzer updated the board on the 2025–26 calendar and a proposal to use 2.5 administrative days to create weekly common planning time for teachers. Board members questioned how the plan would affect elementary drop-off, supervision and support-staff capacity; the board also discussed recent food-service surveys and waste.
Director Kilzer briefed the Chester County Board of Education on a proposal tied to the 2025–26 school calendar to create routine common planning time for teachers by using administrative days and weekly late starts.
Kilzer said the district's staff contracts use a 200-day schedule while students attend 180 days. He said the district is proposing to use about 2.5 administrative days (roughly 15 hours) to provide common planning time distributed across 30 weeks of the school year, beginning about the third week of school. "The recommendation from those national leaders that we have been in conversation with is that your school district, your staff in particular, needs an hour of common planning time each week," Kilzer said. The plan, he said, would be implemented as weekly late starts so student transportation times would not need to change.
Board members asked how the proposal would work for elementary schools, where many students arrive early and rely on support staff for supervision. Kilzer said the district will gather data from families and assess bus arrival patterns before finalizing details. He referenced a comparable practice in Tullahoma City and suggested smaller schools (Jacks Creek, Westchester) could meet virtually or pair with larger campuses for planning.
Kilzer also said consultant work with a PLC (professional learning community) coach will continue; a consultant, Mr. Provencio, is scheduled to return in late March or early April for another round of school visits. Williamson County will host a PLC seminar this summer and the district has been invited to participate.
In a separate discussion about food service, board members raised concerns that students sometimes do not eat menu items and that food is being discarded. Kilzer said the district is surveying students to learn preferences and has added more from-scratch menu items where feasible; the high school has a "second chance" grab-and-go breakfast. He noted federal meal guidelines limit certain menu combinations but said schools can offer after-school snacks and athletic teams may request snacks through the food-service office.
Kilzer said no formal plan has been finalized and the district will inform families with details before the end of the school year. Board members asked the administration to return with data on morning attendance, bus arrival times and support-staff capacity before implementing weekly late starts in elementary schools.
