CCSD teachers to get more planning time this school year

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Charleston County School District (CCSD) teachers will get additional planning time during the upcoming school year thanks to an addition to this year’s budget.

Teachers will now have eight and a half days of planning covered by a substitute teacher. This planning time is in addition to the unencumbered 30 minutes per day required by state law for all elementary and special education teachers.

CCSD suggested the time be used for things such as:

• Researching/reviewing standards 
• Preparing scripts for lessons, preparing scripts for reteaching 
• Reviewing students’ work to identify gaps
• Reviewing climate data to look at trends and possible solutions to stabilize classroom environments
• “Learning Walks” through other classes to identify the implementation levels of key environment practices

Teachers and staff were recently notified of the decision, so the plans for allocating the time are still being developed on a school-by-school basis.

CCSD’s Interim Chief Academic Officer Michelle Simmons explained, “if we can provide our teachers with more opportunities to grow and strengthen their craft, our students will benefit tremendously. We are seeing significant progress throughout CCSD in student proficiency in literacy and moderate progress in math, and this decision will augment that progress while creating an atmosphere our teachers will authentically be a part of.”