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GCCISD presents plan to expand Optional Flexible School Day program districtwide
Summary
Administrators proposed expanding the Optional Flexible School Day Program (OFSDP) districtwide to recover instructional minutes for students who struggle in a traditional bell schedule, citing funding mechanics (43,200 minutes = full ADA year, ~$6,215 per student) and examples such as dropout recovery and hospitalized students.
GCCISD administrators told trustees on July 13 they recommend expanding the Optional Flexible School Day Program (OFSDP) districtwide to help at-risk students and early-college students earn documented instructional minutes and preserve Average Daily Attendance funding.
Alicia Brooks, principal at Peter E. Holland Empower Academy, described OFSDP as a targeted intervention for students who cannot sustain success on a traditional bell schedule. Under state rules the administration cited, an eligible student can earn a full year of ADA after documenting 43,200 instructional minutes; staff estimated the ADA value at about $6,215 per student. Brooks and presenters gave two examples: dropout-recovery students who work full-time but can attend reduced hours and a 7th-grader returning from a six-week hospitalization who needs a phased return to full days.
Administrators estimated financial impact as illustrative: 10 students on OFSDP could recapture roughly $62,000 in ADA funding, and scaling to more students could approach six-figure recoveries; they proposed making every campus an optional OFSDP site by design and emphasized OFSDP is not intended to replace traditional schedules for most students.
Trustees asked about teacher tracking and workload. Administrators said attendance clerks would assume documentation responsibilities and campuses could use summer-school recovery to make up minutes when needed. The presenters noted a recent law affecting virtual instruction (cited as Senate Bill 569) and said virtual counting rules apply only to designated hybrid or virtual campuses.
No vote was taken on OFSDP at the July 13 meeting; administration recommended the program districtwide and signaled it would return with implementation details and application guidance.
