Principal Question
Question: Given the pandemic and the complexities it is creating for education, must I still meet the hours of instruction requirement for students this school year? How do I count virtual or hybrid classroom instruction?
Answer: Yes, you are still required to meet the hours of instruction for this school year. For schools in the Choice program, you are still required to meet 1,050 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades 1-6 and at least 1,137 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades 7-12. Non-choice schools must provide at least 875 hours of instruction.
Private schools using virtual instruction (digital, analog, synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid) or using a combination of traditional in-person instruction with virtual instruction, may count that instruction from any of these virtual models towards meeting the hours of instruction requirement, according to an email from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
Schools should count hours of instruction based on the time teachers are available to students, and based on private school estimates, the amount of time needed to accomplish daily learning objectives, the DPI said.
The DPI said it will soon be uploading examples of how to count hours of instruction here.
