Action Under Consideration:

The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to submit to the Pennsylvania Department of Education a Request for Approval of Act 80 Exceptions based upon Section 1504 of the Public School Code (Act 80), permitting certain scheduled activities to count as pupil instructional time to assure that the School District meets the requirement of at least 180 days of instruction or to the daily school hours, for the 2019/2020 school year. 

Justification: 

Due to COVID-19, the 2019/2020 school year instructional days counted for Act 80 officially ended on the last day of school, March 13, 2020. In the case of the 63 District schools that closed a day prior due to COVID-19, the last day is March 12th. The State has waived the 180-day requirement for the current school year. However, the School District must still comply with submission of the Act 80 calendar, as directed by Pennsylvania law. Failure to authorize the Act 80 days would jeopardize basic education subsidies.