The state Board of Education last night approved 95 schools' requests to convert teacher training days into instructional days, an action that restores as many as six classroom days that would have been lost because of staff furloughs.

Dozens of other schools are expected to request similar exemptions by the extended deadline of Nov. 13, officials said at last night's board meeting. So far, several schools have submitted their requests and many more have said that they plan to do so, officials said.

The BOE will meet again Dec. 3 to take up the next batch of exemptions requested by schools.

"We still have 156 schools that have not submitted anything yet," said Jill Zodrow, the Department of Education's education specialist for school community councils. "We're unsure at this time what it's going to look like."

An additional five schools submitted requests to change their bell schedule, which would restore instructional minutes for classes interrupted on furlough days. They were Kapolei Middle, Mililani Middle, Niu Valley Middle, Pearl City High and Waikoloa High & Middle.

"The overall purpose of all this is to regain and recoup as much instructional time,"Zodrow said.

Board of Education Chairman Garrett Toguchi said many schools have already used some of their waiver or planning days. Only a few schools asked for exemptions to convert all six planning days to classroom days, he said.

"The majority were anywhere from two to six days," Toguchi said. "It's pretty obvious that we are all in favor of helping schools restore this instructional time," he added.

The BOE, teachers and Gov. Linda Lingle agreed in September to a new contract that included 17 furlough days, equal to a 7.9 percent pay cut. The furlough days are all scheduled for Fridays — today is the third of the 17 scheduled furlough days — and have reduced the number of instructional days to 163, the lowest in the nation.

KEEPING CLASS OPEN

Individual schools can boost their instructional days by opting to teach kids on teacher planning days. These requests do not eliminate "furlough Fridays," officials say. Instead, it keeps kids in class on days when schools had previously scheduled teacher workdays or professional development workshops for staff.

Schools receive a total of six waiver and professional development days a year — two "waiver" days and four "planning and collaboration" days, according to the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract.

But, after the decision to furlough public school teachers, principals and teachers expressed interest in using those days to teach their students.

Requests to cancel waiver days or planning days must go before a campus' School Community Council and requires a consensus of teachers or a two-thirds vote, according to the HSTA contract.

If endorsed at the school level, the request then goes before a four-member panel of the BOE and the Hawaii State Teachers Association and then the full board for final approval.

Kailua HighSchool was among the 95 schools that had submitted a request. The school received an exemption from two planning and collaboration days. The school had already taken two other planning days at the beginning of the school year, Kailua Principal Francine Honda said.

"The two remaining (waiver days) are the last two days of the school year. We don't see it as having an impact," Honda said.

So far, conversion of waiver and professional development days to instructional days has been the only option available to schools to add school days back to their pared-down calendar.

Meanwhile, the state House majority met in caucus yesterday to discuss options to eliminate some of the furlough Fridays. Rep. Roy Takumi, chairman of the House Education Committee, said there was no consensus to convene a special session of the state Legislature.

"People were not sure what was the game plan," he said. "Until that's clear, and it's not, we aren't in a position to walk into a special session."

Takumi said the governor, the superintendent of schools, the school board and the union need to meet at the bargaining table and reopen the contract.

Even if the Legislature were find a solution in special session, the furlough days would still exist unless those parties reopened the contract, he said.