Students in Peoria Unified School District will be released early one day per week starting next school year. Each of Peoria Unified’s 43 schools will now let students out two hours early every Monday of the school year, except during May.
Teachers will use those two hours as time for professional development. That could be with district or school programs or between teachers.
The board’s decision last week to change the calendar comes after months of discussions with parents and teachers.
Spokeswoman Danielle Airey says the change is meant not only to help teachers but also to accommodate parents.
“So that was the number one thing we heard from parents is, 'Some type of a consistent schedule so that I could always plan on a specific day and specific time that’s going to be early release rather versus a sporadic, something I couldn’t rely on,'” Airey said.
The new calendar will begin in the 2017-2018 school year.
