A later start and a longer tutorial every other day are two features of a new bell schedule that will start in August — one year after originally intended. 

In 2019, a district committee began developing a new bell schedule to comply with state law and address other concerns. Last year, the committee presented several options to the community and, after a postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district made its final report on the 2021-2022 bell schedule. It was delivered by Julie Grenier, the director of educational technology, at a board meeting on May 11.

The bell schedule is bound by a set of legal parameters. By new state law, school may not start earlier than 8:30 a.m. and must reach a certain number of instructional minutes. It also accommodates students’ and staffs’ preferences expressed in surveys.

The resulting schedule retains the rolling block with red and blue days and seven 90-minute long periods. However, tutorials alternate between short 10-minute “announcements” on red days and 40-minute tutorials on blue days (as opposed to 30 minutes per day in the old schedule). Other changes include 10-minute passing periods (as opposed to 5 minutes) and a shorter 30-minute lunch (as opposed to 35 minutes).

Additionally, the district will discuss implementing Screener-19 and possible ways of restricting or tracking movements during tutorials to ensure the time is used for academic purposes and can count as instructional minutes.

The schedule will be shared with the community and, in March 2022, undergo modifications if needed.