It’s safe to say that when Portland Public Schools teachers strike, they go big: this is the first time that the district’s teachers have ever gone on strike, and schools have been closed for most of November. While many families agree with the teachers’ demands for smaller classes, higher pay, and student mental health resources, a big question looms: how will the district make up the missed days?

Since the Portland Association of Teachers began their strike on November 1, students have missed 11 school days, and parent-teacher conferences planned for this week haven’t happened. It’s unknown when the strike will end—reports of progress appeared on November 20, but no agreement emerged—and the earliest possible return to school is November 27, after Thanksgiving break.

There are at least four possible ways (or some combination of these methods) that PPS might make up the hours to meet the annual 900 hours of instruction for grades K–8, and 990 for grades 9–11 needed to receive state funding.

• Summer School. The school year could extend into the summer beyond the planned end date of June 11, as the district has done in the past to make up snow days. This strategy could place the year-end date as late as June 26.
• Long Days. By tacking a few minutes onto the end of each day, schools could make up the missing hours of instructional time. This plan presents challenges to kids who are already tired at the end of a full school day. 
• Goodbye, Spring Break. Makeup days could cut into winter break in December, eliminate spring break in March, or convert other days students currently have off, such as teachers’ professional development and planning days. This solution won't go over well with families with nonrefundable plane tickets.
• Waiver. The state could give the district a one-year waiver, exempting it from required hours. Given that most of the involved students already lost academic ground during the pandemic, this strategy would likely provoke an outcry from parents.

The district has not yet indicated how it intends to make up the lost days, but concerns about realistically fulfilling the lost instructional time are rampant. Some high school students facing spring Advanced Placement exams fear they will be unprepared.

Grace Groom, a second grade teacher at Markham Elementary who has been teaching in the district for seven years, hopes that teachers will enjoy some flexibility and autonomy in how they use their remaining instructional time.

“I’m concerned about whether the district is going to allow professional judgment with the teachers. We have a pacing guide,” Groom says. “I can get the kids what they need for that work if [they] give me flexibility,” she says. She would prefer a mix of longer days plus converting professional development days into instructional time to minimize disruption to families’ schedules. “It really messes up the flow of a lot of the year, and families’ plans, if they take a week off the holidays.”

Portland Monthly reached out to Portland Public Schools for comment, and did not receive a response as of press time.