Instructional Hours FAQs

Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, each school district shall make available to students instructional hour offerings of at least a district-wide average 1,080 hours in grades nine through 12, and at least a district-wide average 1,000 hours in grades one through eight. The district calculation for compliance may be made as a district-wide annual average over grades one through 12. This equates to a district-wide annual average 1,027 instructional hours. Districts need to provide at least 1,000 hours in Kindergarten. -- RCW 28A.150.220(2).

ESHB 2261, 2009 Session, directed that the minimum offering of instructional hours be increased, for students in grades 1-12, from a district-wide annual average of at least 1,000 hours to 1,080 hours in each of grades 7-12 and 1,000 hours in each of grades 1-6, according to schedule to be adopted by the Legislature. Legislation passed in 2011 amended the statute to add that implementation could not take place before the 2014-15 school year. The 2013-15 operating budget act implemented the instructional hour requirement established by ESHB 2261, beginning with the 2014-15 school year.

E2SSB 6552, 2014 Session, amended RCW 28A.150.220(2) to replace these instructional hour requirements with those described in question 1 above. The 2014 supplemental budget eliminated the provision of the original biennial budget requiring implementation of the 1,000/1,080-hour requirements in the 2014-15 school year.

The change in minimum instructional hours for the 2015-16 school year is therefore as follows:

In July 2014 the SBE adopted amended WAC 180-16-200 to implement the change made by the Legislature in E2SSB 6552. The SBE rule provides that, beginning with the 2015-16 school year, districts may demonstrate compliance with RCW 28A.150.220(2) by offering a district-wide average of at least 1,000 instructional hours in grades 1-8 and a district-wide average of at least 1,080 instructional hours in grades 9-12, or a district-wide average of 1,027 hours in grades 1-12. In July 2020, the Board adopted emergency rules for the 2020-21 school year to address activities that may be counted toward the hour requirements to accommodate distance learning necessitated by school building closures and other disruptions anticipated due to the COVID-19 crisis.

"Instructional hours" is defined for purposes of basic education as follows:

"Instructional hours" means those hours students are provided the opportunity to engage in educational activity planned by and under the direction of school district staff, as directed by the administration and board of directors of the district, inclusive of intermissions for class changes, recess, and teacher/parent-guardian conferences that are planned and scheduled by the district for the purpose of discussing students' educational needs or progress, and exclusive of time actually spent for meals. – RCW 28A.150.205

In a plain reading, therefore, "instructional hours" includes all time in a school day from the beginning of the first scheduled class period to the end of the last scheduled class period, reduced by time actually spent for meals.

Emergency rules adopted by the Board in July 2020 further establish that for the 2020-2021 school year “instructional hours” are not limited to in-person educational services. Local education agencies (LEAs) may count as instructional hours towards the minimum district-wide annual average those hours of educational activity planned by and under the direction of school district staff that are delivered through learning modalities which may include but are not limited to distance learning, hybrid classrooms, rotating schedules, or other methods that allow for delivery of basic education services during the COVID-19 epidemic.

No. The phrase "inclusive of intermission for class changes" clearly refers to the time between one class and the next. Scheduled time before classes begin (sometimes referred to as "zero period") cannot by definition be time between one class and the next. The same applies to time scheduled after the last period of the day.

No, they do not.

The word "students" is not defined in RCW 28A.150.205; however, the legal analysis provided to us suggests that "all students" enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade must be provided the required hours of instruction as set forth in RCW 28A.150.220(2).

When the Legislature prescribes a definition applicable to all public schools within a district, it is reasonable to presume it is intended to cover all students. This is consistent with other K-12 statutes governing the education system in this state. To cite one of many examples, RCW 28A.230.130(1), requiring public high schools to provide a program for "students" to meet minimum entrance requirements at baccalaureate granting institutions or to pursue a career or other opportunities, plainly requires that such program be provided to all students, not just some. Construing "students" in RCW 28A.150.205, defining "instructional hours" for basic education, to mean only some students would be inconsistent with this statutory framework.

Interpreting "students" in RCW 28A.150.205 to mean only "some students," therefore, is inconsistent with the structure of basic education law, and negates the intent of the Legislature in increasing the number of instructional hours deemed needed to meet the goals of basic education.

No. The analysis is similar to that for the previous question. Offering educational activity to students before or after school that may, in theory, be open to all (e.g., chess or band) does not satisfy the intent of the Legislature in increasing the number of instructional hours deemed needed to meet the basic education purposes set out in RCW 28A.150.220.

There is no provision in basic education law setting guardrails around "time actually spent for meals" in the definition of instructional hours. Other law, however, may condition how districts make this determination. For example, federal guidance is at least 20 minutes for school lunches.

Yes. WAC 180-18-040 provides that a district granted a waiver of the 180-day requirement is still required under its waiver plan to offer "the equivalent in annual minimum instructional hours as prescribed in RCW 28A.150.220 in such grades as are conducted by such district." WAC 180-18-050 provides that the school board resolution that accompanies the waiver application "must include a statement attesting that the district will meet the minimum instructional hours requirement of RCW 28A.150.220(2) under the waiver plan."

Yes. The definition of "instructional hours" includes "teacher-parent/guardian conferences that are planned by and scheduled by the district for the purpose of discussing students’ educational needs or progress." Whether those conferences take place through late starts, early releases, or in full days enabled by a 180-day school year waiver does not affect whether the time devoted to that activity may be counted toward the instructional hours requirement. It can.

After the start of the school year, districts should not add parent-teacher conference hours to make up for time lost due to non-instructional purposes such as emergencies (for example, snow days).

Yes, WAC 180-18-050 allows a district seeking a waiver of no more than five days, solely for the purpose of parent-teacher conference days, to do so following notification of the request to OSPI. A district seeking a waiver of more than five days for the purpose of parent-teacher conference days must request the waiver through the regular 180-day School Year Waiver to implement a local plan to provide for all students an effective education system designed to improve student achievement by enhancing the educational program for all students in the district or for individual schools in the district. For more information visit the OSPI waiver page and WAC 180-18-040.

Possibly. WAC 180-18-040 allows a district to apply to OSPI for a 180-day School Year Waiver to implement a local plan to provide for all students an effective education system designed to improve student achievement by enhancing the educational program for all students in the district or for individual schools in the district. For more information visit the OSPI waiver page.

No. Staff professional development is not within the definition of instructional hours provided in RCW 28A.150.205. A district that has a waiver of the 180-day requirement approved for the purpose of professional development may have to determine whether it could use each and all of the waiver days approved while still meeting the instructional hours requirement.

Yes. E2SSB 6552, 2014 session, amended RCW 28A.150.220(5) to provide that for graduating seniors, any hours scheduled by a school district for non-instructional purposes during the last five school days, including but not limited to the observance of graduation and early release from school upon the request of a student, shall count toward the instructional hours requirement in RCW 28A.150.220(2).

Yes, ALE is a delivery model for basic education. Therefore, all ALE courses and programs must meet the requirements of basic education in order to claim state funding.

ALE students are included in the district-wide annual average instructional offering requirements in RCW 28A.150.220. Districts have two options to meet the requirements:

• Districts must provide at least 1,080 instructional hours to students in grades 9-12 and 1,000 instructional hours to students in grades 1-8.
• The instructional hours may be calculated by a school district using a district-wide annual average of instructional hours over grades 1-12 to reach 1027 hours.

Under RCW 28A.150.315, full implementation of all-day kindergarten programs must be "achieved” in the 2017-18 school year. "All-day programs must consist of no fewer than 180 days, comprising no fewer than 1,000 hours of instruction.”

Districts should include ALE students in their calculation of district-wide annual average instructional hours, based on the average estimated hours reflected in the full-time student’s Written Student Learning Plans (WSLPs).

• 1000 hours of instruction equates to 27 hours and 45 minutes weekly.
• 1027 hours of instruction equates to 28 hours and 30 minutes weekly.
• 1080 hours of instruction equates to 30 hours weekly.

ALE programs may need to write WSLPs to include more than 25 hours/week in order to ensure the district-wide annual average doesn’t fall below the requirements, but hours cannot exceed the amount of hours available at the traditional school setting.

For more information on ALE, please visit the OSPI ALE site.