Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Silver Falls board approves monthly two-hour early-release for teacher collaboration
Loading...
Summary
The board approved a monthly two-hour early-release day (in addition to three full PD days) to give teachers regular collaboration time. Staff said the change reduces instructional minutes by roughly 14 hours annually and may affect snow-day cushion; messaging to families will follow.
The Silver Falls School District Board voted to approve a proposal to reinstate a monthly two-hour early-release day for teachers and staff.
Superintendent Kim said the early-release sessions would be held once a month in addition to three longer professional development days already on the calendar. The district said the time would be used for grade-level and content team meetings, PLC data analysis, IEP meetings and targeted curriculum training (including recent adoptions such as 95% and i-Ready).
District staff acknowledged the change reduces total instructional minutes by roughly 14 hours across the school year (about two full school days of instructional time compared with last year's schedule), which narrows the margin available to absorb snow days. School operations staff and the finance director said the district could adjust by canceling one quarterly release or by making up time if weather closures require it.
Board members who supported the change said teachers overwhelmingly requested more planning time, and that better collaboration can improve instruction enough to offset lost minutes. Members who voiced caution asked for clear family communication and contingency planning so the district would be prepared if state funding or extreme weather forced schedule changes.
The board voted in favor of the proposed calendar during the meeting; the superintendent said the district will finalize logistics and provide families with advance notice before implementation.
