180 Separate days of instruction

The beginning and closing days of the minimum 200-day employment term not to extend past 48 weeks

An instructional day is part of the 180-day term for students. An instructional day is the time allocated within the school day for the teaching and mastery of standards, and does not include lunch, recess, homeroom, class changes, breaks, and other non-instructional activities.

All school calendars must include twenty (20) compensated non-taught days. Non-Instructional Days are days when school is in session, but students are not present, however, some compensated non-taught days include holidays, election days, and outside school environment days when school personnel may not report to work.

Professional learning days are for educators in lieu of instructional days for students. These days or equivalent portions of days are not subject to cancellation or being rescheduled to make-up for instructional days lost. The days must be used as determined by the county board, must be used without students present and must be used exclusively for activities by educators at the school level which are designed to improve instruction. This time is considered instructional time and is not part of the 20 non-taught compensated days.

Paid days to be counted as part of the 20 non-taught compensated days for school personnel. Outside School Environment days can be utilized to make-up days to ensure 180 days of instruction occurs.

This time can be used for the purpose of meeting with parents and students to discuss student academic progress and is counted as part of the 20 non-taught compensated days.

Pursuant to W.Va. Code §18-5A-5, the school calendar must provide to each faculty senate a two-hour block of time for a faculty senate meeting on a day scheduled for the opening of school prior to the beginning of the instructional term and on a day scheduled for the closing of school before the end of the employment term. In addition to the opening and closing of school, faculty senate meetings are to be held during the months of October, December, February, and April, for a total of six two-hour meetings. Faculty senate meetings can be held on days set aside for late arrivals and early dismissals, or part of a non-instructional day. The portion of the non-instructional day scheduled for the faculty senate meeting shall be considered as part of the purpose for which the non-instructional day is scheduled.

Faculty senates may also schedule a meeting during an instructional day if sufficient equivalent instructional time has been set aside by a school; however, every school in the district must have set aside sufficient time for all faculty senates in the district to meet in this manner. A faculty senate may also meet  for an unlimited block of time during a non-instructional day to discuss and plan strategies to improve student instruction and to conduct other faculty senate business. A faculty senate may elect to schedule a meeting on an instructional day outside of the instructional time for students, and take compensatory time off on the non-instructional day that is provided by the county board for its meeting, as long as the meeting takes place prior to the day that is scheduled in the school calendar. If a non-instructional day that is originally scheduled for faculty senates to meet is canceled due to inclement weather, the county board may elect, but is not required, to reschedule the non-instructional day in order for the faculty senates to meet.