The Butler Area School District is changing the school calendar so that three previously normal school days will now become ACT 80 days to allow more time for grading and teacher preparation.
Superintendent Dr. Brian White recommended the change and Monday night the Butler Area School Board approved ACT 80 days for Monday, November 2nd, Monday, January 25th, and Friday, March 26th.
According to White, the addition of alternative learning pathway options this year has created much more work for teachers.
We have provided multiple learning pathways for our students in our district, and we’ve allowed a lot of changing back-and-forth with each of them,” White said. “It is causing an incredible amount of work to keep all the grades coherent and organized, and it’s going to take our teachers a lot of time to make sure they get this accurate.”
“In addition, the other purpose of those Act 80 days is curriculum work to prepare for the next nine weeks. Each of those learning pathways take a lot more time than I think anyone, including myself, ever estimated they would. So teachers need the time to make sure they adjust to the curriculum with each subject moving forward,” White added.
During the ACT 80 Days, Butler faculty and staff will report to school and spend time grading for each nine week period as well as preparing for the upcoming period through curriculum adjustment.
Students will not need to make up those days as even with this adjustment, they will still be over 50 hours in excess of the school time required by the state once the school year has been completed.
