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Pennridge board approves MOU with teachers to add about 50 minutes of weekly planning time at no added cost
Summary
The Pennridge School District approved a memorandum of understanding with the teachers' association to increase weekly planning time by roughly 50 minutes per teacher; district officials described the change as cost neutral and negotiated with the Penridge Education Association.
The Pennridge School District board approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Penridge Education Association that adds planning time for teachers under the district's block schedule.
Board leaders said the shift to block scheduling made it harder to schedule teacher planning and duties. The negotiated agreement increases teacher planning time by about 50 minutes per week — described by board leaders as "almost 20% more planning time per week" — and was presented to the board as cost neutral.
Superintendent and board remarks credited collaborative negotiations with the Penridge Education Association (PEA) for reaching a solution the district said does not increase the budget. At the meeting the board thanked both the administration and the PEA for negotiating the agreement. One board member called it "a great example of the board working with the administration to win-win." The motion to approve the MOU passed without recorded dissent.
Why it matters: Teachers and school staff had reported scheduling and duty burdens after the district adopted block scheduling. The MOU aims to give teachers more predictable planning time to prepare instruction and manage duties.
Provenance: The superintendent announced the board would vote on an MOU regarding planning time during the administrative report, and the formal motion and vote appear later in the personnel section of the meeting transcript.
