Austin Public School students will have a few more free afternoons next school year — and their teachers, rather, will have a few extra hours to study.

The school board voted 6-0 Monday to add five early dismissals to next year’s calendar, dedicating those afternoons to staff development opportunities.

District educational services director John Alberts presented the proposal during a school board study session yesterday afternoon.

“It’s an effort to increase student achievement through teacher learning and development,” Alberts told the board before the vote.

Beginning this fall, students in each of the district’s buildings will be dismissed by 1 p.m. the third Wednesday of October, December, February, March and May to accommodate staff development meetings.

This puts Austin in line with all of the other Big 9 schools, which each have between four and nine early releases or late starts.

Austin schools will next academic year have eight total early release days — with three being those scheduled prior for teacher work days, or grade preparation.

Bussing and Kids Korner will be available on the early release days.

The new scheduling details will be provided in spring report cards and on the district calendar and Web site, according to the district.

The new half-days will be used specifically for school-, grade-, and district-wide meetings on math implementation; content alignment and improvement; development of common assessments; discussion of college-readiness initiatives and alignment to the district’s strategic plan, according to the proposal.

The district’s long range strategic plan, and how to adapt to growing enrollment, were also discussed at Monday’s work session.

Representatives from ATS&R Planners/Architects/Engineers attended the meeting to present their findings from a study on the district’s use and capacity of its school buildings.

Changes to classroom use, larger class sizes, or more building space will be needed to accommodate the growth at the kindergarten, elementary and middle school levels in the coming years, said Mark Hayes and David Maroney of ATS&R.

This on the day Ellis Middle School began construction in their kitchen in part of a $5.5 million expansion including three science labs and a multi-purpose gym.

District officials agreed at the meeting that the 12,000 square foot addition will likely need to be accompanied by further changes to the building’s use to accommodate the upward trend in APS enrollment.

More discussion on the topic will be held at future district strategic planning meetings.