PORTLAND, Ore. — Hundreds of Portland Public Schools (PPS) teachers and many students were not in class Monday, marking a rocky start to the first round of make-up days after the nearly month-long teacher strike in November. Students missed a total of 11 school days during the strike, prompting the district to convert the first week of winter break into instructional time.
But some of the students who did show up on Monday said they felt like there wasn’t much learning happening.
"My mom's definitely not too much of a fan of it," said Elliot Humphry, a senior at Lincoln High School.
The decision to convert the winter break days was controversial, coming just a couple weeks before the break was previously scheduled to start. PPS officials previously said that they understood the late adjustment would be disruptive for some families and educators, but that the winter break conversion was the best decision for student success. In a Sunday letter to parents, the district warned that some students may have substitute teachers this week.
Some classrooms may be combined if classes get too small, PPS added. For elementary schoolers, classes would be combined by grade level. For middle and high schoolers, classes would be combined based on subject.
"It does just feel like we're getting more and more behind," Humphrey said.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Portland Public Schools will cut winter break in half to make up for lost days during strike
The district said 558 teachers were out on Monday, and the news left some parents frustrated.
"It would be nice if we had a little higher attendance," said Kim McGair, a parent of a Grant High School senior. "But I know a lot of families aren't there either, so it becomes kind of a vicious circle."
McGair said it's been difficult to not feel like this week is meaningless for her student.
"Attendance is critically important, so we should be emphasizing attendance," she said.
Other students did report more positive experiences.
"Neither of my teachers got a substitute for this week," said Xavier Leroux, a senior at Cleveland High School.
Leroux said his classrooms were also full, although despite the high attendance, the curriculum was a bit less intense than usual.
"We weren't given any new assignments, just more time to work on assignments we were already assigned," he said.
KGW spoke with a McDaniel High School student who said she didn’t go to school Monday because her family was visiting relatives, but she said friends told her many classes were empty.
A leader of the Portland Association of Teachers said PPS teachers are continuing to teach this week to the best of their ability, but are understanding the circumstances and that many students may be absent.