Debate begins over proposed full block schedule idea

How to best schedule the school day is a topic that will debated by teachers, students and parents in the next few months.

The big change under review: a rolling block schedule whose main goal would be to eliminate the seven-period day student now face on Mondays.

Principal Jeff Anderson proposed a draft of this new schedule for the 2012-13 school year at a Jan. 9 staff meeting.

According to Anderson, the proposed schedule would have four periods each day, every day of the week, but students would still be limited to seven classes. The current Monday schedule, in which all classes meet for 47 minutes, would no longer exist.

On one week, even-numbered classes would meet three times a week (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday), whereas odd-numbered classes would only meet twice (on Tuesdays and Thursdays). The reverse would be true the next week.

The schedule also features three embedded, 30-minute tutorials on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, two late starts at 8:35 am on Tuesday and Thursday and a 35-minute lunch every day. While the schedule would have eight periods, students would be able to take a maximum of seven classes.

Anderson said this proposal is the latest in a series of discussions that have taken in recent years. A rolling block schedule was also proposed in 2009, but did not receive enough support.

According to Anderson, if the new schedule is implemented, there is the advantage of being more in sync with Los Gatos High School, which currently has a full block schedule. District-wide benefits could include the possibility that students could take some classes at their respective sister school and teachers could more easily instruct at both schools.

Yet Anderson admits there are some negatives to the proposed schedule. Students would see each teacher five times in two weeks, as opposed to the current six times during that same time span. The schedule is also difficult for teachers with young children because their work hours would vary more than in the current schedule.

Spanish teacher Gina Rodriguez is concerned about having fewer classes with students.

“For me, personally, I don’t like it, teaching foreign language, because I see some kids three days a week and others two,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez feels that there is a better solution out there.

“If you came up with a schedule where we could see everybody three days a week and get rid of Monday, that would be ideal,” Rodriguez said.

Athletic director Tim Lugo said the proposed schedule would help athletes.

“Right now, we try and schedule athletes according to their game schedules in order to reduce the amount of class time missed,” Lugo said. “This schedule will allow most athletes to not miss class to catch a bus, nor will they always miss the same class when they do.”

But Lugo said that for students taking seven classes and also playing sports, the new schedule would not be of as much help, since there would still be several days per week when athletes would have to miss class.

AP Computer Science and Trig/Pre-Calc Honors teacher Debra Troxell believes the full block schedule would be a welcome change.

She taught under a similar schedule at another school and said she encountered no problems getting through the required material in the time allotted, calling it a “complete non-issue.”

When her daughter attended Saratoga High, Troxell said Sundays were very stressful for her.

“On Sundays, we had big family dinners … and I felt bad for her. It was hard for her to enjoy the day because she was doing schoolwork,” Troxell said.

History teacher Jeffrey Scott feels as if he could “go either way” with the proposed or current schedules. Scott agrees that with the proposed schedule, weekends would be less stressful for students because they only have half of their classes on Mondays. However, he also sees some drawbacks to the proposal.

“A disadvantage with the proposed schedule is that the length of classroom instructional time is not the same from day to day,” Scott said.

Scott also recognizes that as a result of the new schedule’s alternating weeks, some students could have a certain class on Friday that other students would have the following Monday.

“This could bring up issues of fairness since some students will get more time to study for a test or complete an assignment or paper,” Scott said.

Scott says he is not particular about which schedule is ultimately chosen.

“I would be happy to teach on our current or the proposed schedule, but I know that might not be the case among all members of the faculty,” Scott said.

The scheduling decision will ultimately be in the hands of the staff, according to Anderson.

“I’m not going to decree that we’re going to a new schedule. [The staff] have to support it or it won’t work,” Anderson said. “I can’t lead the troops where they don’t want to go.”

In order for the schedule to pass, there must be a 65 percent majority in favor of the proposal among the faculty. The vote will pit the current schedule against a version of the proposed schedule, which may be revised before the time of voting. Anderson expects the vote to occur in April or May, but there is no official deadline to the process.

Anderson said the staff is trying to decide whether the switch to a new schedule is the best thing for the school.

“The move [from the daily full class schedule] to our current schedule was a good thing … whether or not another change would be a better thing is what we’re sort of debating right now,” Anderson said.