Executive Order 26-06 on Instructional Time

On April 16, 2026, Governor Kotek issued Executive Order 26-06: Preserving Student Instructional Time. The purpose of the executive order is to ensure that all Oregon students have access to sufficient and high-quality instructional time to support their success in school. To this end, the order prevents school districts and public charter schools from further reducing student instructional time during the 2025-26 school year and in the future. In addition, the order requires school districts who have reduced student instructional time to restore time by the start of the 2027-28 school year to the levels that were in place for the 2024-25 school year. To support implementation of this executive order, the State Board of Education has adopted a new emergency rule, OAR 581-022-2323: Preserving Student Instructional Time, and emergency revisions to OAR 581-022-2320: Required Instructional Time and OAR 581-002-0035: Waivers. Permanent rulemaking is scheduled to take place in fall 2026.

Instructional Time Definitions

Instructional time, as defined in the Division 22 Standards, has the meaning established in OAR 581-022-0102(30) and OAR 581-022-2320. It is time in which students are both:

• Engaged in regularly scheduled instruction, learning activities, or learning assessments 
  
• Learning under the direction of a licensed teacher or an EA under the supervision of a licensed teacher

Student Instructional Time, or bell-to-bell time, is defined as the total hours students are at school, bell-to-bell, including recess, lunch, passing time, and hours of instructional time. This can be calculated as the total amount of time between the start and end of the day, multiplied by the total number of days of that length (repeating the calculation for any planned shortened days, and adding up all of the time planned across the school year).

Instructional Time Data Collection

Under Executive Order 26-06, the Oregon Department of Education will begin annually tracking and publishing instructional time offerings, starting with the 2025-26 school year. The Department is currently engaging in the rulemaking process to permanently add this new reporting requirement to OAR 581-022-2320, with adoption anticipated in October 2026.

For the 2025-26 school year, districts will report their final instructional time through the Division 22 assurances process, due to ODE by November 15, 2026. Public charter schools will submit their final instructional time for the 2025-26 school year through a separate charter school-specific submission form, also due to ODE by November 15, 2026.

For future years, ODE plans to establish a new formal data collection to be completed in the fall looking back on the previous school year. ODE currently anticipates this new data collection will go live in fall 2027, looking back on instructional time offered during the 2026-27 school year. ODE will provide additional information about the anticipated new data collection on this webpage over the coming months.

Engagement on Permanent Rules

Survey

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is conducting a statewide survey through a third-party to gather feedback on instructional time rulemaking, including how it is defined and measured, how unforeseen circumstances should be addressed, and considerations for implementation. The estimated completion time is 15 minutes. The survey will close on Friday, September 18, 2026. Responses are confidential and will be reviewed and summarized by the third-party survey administrator to identify themes and inform ODE's rulemaking process.

Listening Sessions

ODE will be hosting listening sessions to engage districts, education partners, students, and families on the draft instructional time rules.

Student Instructional Time Restoration Planning

The following resources were developed to help districts and charter schools navigate the restoration planning process if they reduced time for either the 2025-26 or 2026-27 school years.

Restoration Plan Guidelines - Start here to determine the appropriate next steps for your specific circumstances. This document includes step by step instructions and example restoration plans.

• Restoration Planning Spreadsheet - This spreadsheet calculator will help you answer these two key questions:
1. Did your district or charter reduce student instructional time in 2025-26 or in 2026-27, and
2. If your district or charter did reduce student instructional time, how much student instructional time do you need to offer in the 2027-28 SY?
• Restoration Plan Template - All restoration plans must be submitted using this template.
• Public Justification Guidelines - If your school board/governing body makes the choice not to restore time, these guidelines will help you plan your public justification (template included).
• School Board Presentation Template - This is an optional slide deck that can be modified for local board presentations on EO 26-06.
  
• Student Instructional Time Restoration Submission Form - Use this form to submit your restoration plan or intent/evidence of the public justification for not restoring time. The submission deadline is July 15, 2026.

Questions & Support

For additional information regarding instructional time requirements, contact ODE's Instructional Time team at ODE.instructionaltime@ODE.Oregon.gov.