Since July, PAT and PPS have been in negotiations regarding a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the 2020/2021 school year.  The PAT has proposed sections on what constitutes a safe return to work, working conditions (including educator-directed time), and support for families of the students we serve, among other topics.  Last week we agreed on key terms for the workday that should help each professional educator as we move past the “soft” open on September 14th. 

The work schedule for all educators contains the following provisions:

•     The schedule must meet statutory requirements for instruction time, and for educator-facilitated instructional time in compliance with the ODE’s guidance set forth in Ready Schools, Safe Learners of August, 2020.
•     All professional educators will receive an average of no less than three hours and ten minutes per day, or at least 950 minutes per week, of educator-directed time over the course of a full school week, that shall include the following:
•     Educator-directed planning time;
•     Educator-directed time to communicate with students and families;
•     Educator-directed time to provide actionable feedback to students;
•     Educator-directed time to assess student performance, and gather, track, and enter data.

“Educator-directed time” is flexible time - - educators are required to do the activities, but educators may conduct them when they are able.  This means that if an individual educator needs to take time to care for their child/children or to provide elder care, they may flex the time.  We also agreed that times in the day where the District has indicated options such as student “support/ office hours,” or “small group instruction/ asynchronous learning/ office hours,” etc. are times where the educator (not the administrator) decides what happens when. 

Finally, both sides agreed that office hours don’t count as part of the educator-directed time or educator planning time.