As educators we believe that instructional time is critical in supporting student achievement. To ensure that all students have access to an appropriate amount of instruction, school entities (school districts, intermediate units, career and technology centers) are still responsible for meeting the requirement of 180 days of instruction and the number of hours of instruction required by law: 990 hours of instruction for secondary students, 900 hours for elementary students, and 450 hours for half-day kindergarten students.

To clarify how a school entity is able to meet these requirements, the Department of Education has issued three relevant Basic Education Circulars (BECs): Emergency Closings, Instructional Time and Act 80 Exceptions, and Graduation of Seniors.

As specified in the BEC on Emergency Closings, when an entity must close all or the majority of its buildings, the expectation is that the lost day(s) will be made up by June 30^th. IF ALL MAKE-UP DAYS THAT WERE BUILT INTO THE SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED, THEN THE ENTITY SHOULD REVIEW ITS CALENDAR TO ENSURE THAT IT HAS AVAILED ITSELF OF THE ALTERNATIVES TO THE 180 DAY REQUIREMENT UNDER ACT 80 OF 1969.  IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT EVEN IF A REQUEST FOR AN ACT 80 EXCEPTION WAS NOT MADE PRIOR TO THE EVENT, APPLICATIONS CAN BE MADE UP UNTIL JULY 31 FOLLOWING THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. 

The BEC on Graduation of Seniors provides guidance on actions that entities can take to keep the original date of graduation as addressed in Section 1501 of the PA School Code.

It is also important to understand that the issuance of a “state of emergency” does not trigger an exception for days of school missed.

The full text of the BECs referenced above can be found at:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/basic_education_circulars/7497

Questions may be sent to the School Services Office at RA-PDE-SchoolService@pa.gov.