In perhaps a record-breaking short meeting Tuesday, the Eugene 4J School District Board unanimously voted to add three no-school days to the calendar and three workload relief days for teachers.
Last week, members asked Interim Superintendent Cydney Vandercar to come up with a proposed calendar that reached beyond January, to ease teacher burnout from short staffing. Board Member Maya Rabasa appreciated that Vandercar worked with employee groups over the weekend, but said, “While I will vote to support this proposal, I can only do so after noting my continued concern for families. I want all of us to remain diligent in attempting to find solutions beyond our long-standing approaches to handling child care challenges.”
The new days off in December, January and April mean elementary and high schools will not have enough hours in the school year, per ODE rules, unless allowable time for professional development, parent conferences and/or recess is applied. Vandercar said they would revisit that after any necessary snow days in the winter.
Here's a link to the revised district calendar. A memo detailing the changes is attached as a PDF here.
