Fairfax and Virginia schools adds early release days

“We’re going to be expected to do a significant amount of state-required professional development, and it’s good professional development, we’re not fussing about it,” Fairfax Superintendent Michelle Reid said at a recent school board meeting. “It’s appropriate and a good and right thing to do, to think about how we improve our literacy performance for our young learners.”

In the district’s plan, elementary students will be released three hours early on seven Mondays. There will be one early release day per month, but none in December or January. Reid said the district will provide supervision and activities for students who need it.

Some central office staff will also support schools that need additional help during that time. Transportation will be delivered twice — both at the early release time and at the later time for students who stay on campus.

Reid said in the past they have pulled teachers from the classroom for training. But with substitute teacher shortages, the district wanted to look for options that keep teachers in the classroom.

The increased training demands come as school districts work to implement the Virginia Literacy Act, which aims to boost early-literacy outcomes and adds about 27 hours of training for teachers in grades K-8. The state is also rolling out new math and English standards that will require additional training. Some educators have said they’ve never seen so many new training expectations from the state at one time.

Reid said she spoke with leadership from the state Education Department, who said that while they understand that accommodating the trainings will be challenging for school districts, it’s a required timeline by law.

In Loudoun, Superintendent Aaron Spence initially proposed adding 16 delayed-start days to next year’s calendar for the trainings, but dropped that plan after the district received negative feedback from parents and community letters. Last week, the school board agreed to add four full days off for students into the calendar to be used as professional development days for teachers. The days — Oct. 4, Nov. 4, Jan. 28 and June 16 — were selected for their proximity to holidays and other days off.

“We are committed to ensuring our educators receive the training they need to enhance their teaching practices and align with state standards, ultimately benefiting our students,” Spence had previously said about the trainings.

Arlington County Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Durán plans to propose adding two more professional development days on Nov. 4 and Jan. 30 next year to accommodate the trainings. The school board will vote on the proposal at its July 8 meeting.

Meanwhile, Alexandria City Public Schools officials say they are still in discussions over how to fit in the training. “ACPS is currently developing a plan that will allow teachers to engage in required VDOE professional learning without compromising instructional time for students or planning time for teachers,” Pierrette Finney, the division’s chief academic officer, said in a statement. “Our plan will be released and communicated to the school community prior to the 2024-25 school year.”