2025-26 Required Instructional Time and Exemption Board Report

To: Board of Directors From: Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, Superintendent RE: Required Instructional Time and Exemption Board Report Date: October 19, 2026 Background: Annually, this report is provided to the Board to review status on meeting the Division 22 Required Instructional Minutes (581-022-2320) for the prior school year. The requirements for instructional time in grades K-12 are: Grade 12 — 966 hours; Grades 9–11 — 990 hours; and Grades K–8 — 900 hours, with allowable exemptions. The state-provided exemptions include: (6) Upon approval by the local school board, a district may include in its calculation of instructional time required by subsection (1) of this rule the following: (a) For kindergarten programs offering 900 hours or more of instructional time, up to 60 hours of recess; (b) For kindergarten programs offering less than 900 hours of instructional time, up to 30 hours of recess; (c) For grades 1–3, up to 60 hours of recess; (d) Up to 30 hours for staff professional development; (e) Up to 30 hours for parent teacher conferences; and (f) For the 2015–16 school year, up to 14 hours for emergency school closures due to adverse weather conditions and facilities failure. There are essentially two key components to calculating the Required Instructional Time with the additional consideration of state-provided exemptions. 1. Each school district shall ensure that at least 92% of all students in the district and at least 80% of all students (who are not exempted from the calculation) at each school operated by the district are scheduled to receive annually the following hours of instructional time. This part of the rule primarily applies to the scheduling of high school students. (A) Grade 12 — 966 hours; (B) Grades 9–11 — 990 hours; and (C) Grades K–8 — 900 hours. 2. Review of actual instructional time achieved during the school year per grade level. 3. Review of and determination of exemptions. 2025-26 Instructional Hours: All grade bands successfully met the required instructional minutes for the 2025–2026 school year. Grade Level(s) State Required Instructional Time 24-25 Actuals (3 hours lost due to inclement weather) 25-26 PPS Planned 25-26 PPS Actuals 26-27 Planned Kindergarten 900 928.5 931.5 918 931.5 1st - 5th Grades 900 945 948 934.5 948 6th - 8th Grades 900 981.8 984.8 970.1 984.8 9th - 11th Grades 990 1033.4 1036.4 1020.6 1036.4 12th Grade 966 979 982 973.5 982 One notable exception for the 2025–26 school year was Executive Order 26-06. While Portland Public Schools (PPS) remains in compliance with standard Division 22 instructional hour requirements, budget-related furlough days caused us to fall out of compliance with the Governor’s executive order. Consequently, PPS has self-identified as being in corrective action. We submitted a recovery plan to restore required instructional time by the 2027–28 school year, which the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) has approved. [Link to Plan] Key Plan Highlights: ● 2024–25 Baseline: The chart above displays 2024–25 instructional hours as the benchmark target PPS must meet by 2027–28, independent of baseline Division 22 standards. ● 2026–27 Projections: Planned hours for 2026–27 match the initial 2024–25 targets and exceed actual 2024–25 totals, accounting for inclement weather contingency days. ● 2027–28 Target: PPS plans to maintain these expanded hours into 2027–28 to achieve full compliance with the Executive Order. Regarding the scheduling of students with a full course load (i.e., meeting the state-required instructional hours), our overall percentage meets the standard with an average of 83%. Each school meets the minimum requirement of 80% of students having a full schedule. School Overall 9 10 11 12 Alliance 4% 0% 0% 7% 4% Benson 89% 100% 100% 99% 40% Cleveland 86% 100% 100% 99% 44% Franklin 85% 100% 100% 98% 40% Grant 83% 100% 100% 99% 34% Ida B. Wells 81% 100% 99% 95% 32% Jefferson 88% 100% 100% 100% 51% Lincoln 85% 100% 100% 97% 47% McDaniel 81% 99% 98% 89% 38% MLC 87% 95% 100% 71% 70% Roosevelt 82% 100% 99% 99% 27% District 83% 100% 99% 96% 37% Clarification on Senior Schedules and Board Approval A senior’s schedule that includes less than a full school day does not, by itself, require individual Board approval. Under OAR 581-022-2320(2)(a), Board approval is required when the district requests an instructional time exemption for eligible students. These exemptions allow students to be excluded from the calculations used to determine whether the district meets state instructional time requirements. The exemption process requires annual Board approval following a public hearing. Under PPS’s current practice, seniors who are not fully scheduled are reported to the Oregon Department of Education as “not fully scheduled.” These students remain included in the district’s instructional time calculations. Because no exemption is being requested for these students, the approval and public hearing requirements under this provision do not apply. This distinction concerns when formal Board action is required. The Board retains its oversight role in reviewing senior scheduling practices, students’ access to instruction, and compliance with state requirements. Any request to exclude eligible students from instructional time calculations through this exemption process would require Board approval following a public hearing.