Hollister
– San Benito High School is finalizing plans for a new
instructional schedule next year, that would increase students’
school day by just under one hour and implement a 40-minute
advisory period for daily counseling or tutoring.
Hollister – San Benito High School is finalizing plans for a new instructional schedule next year, that would increase students’ school day by just under one hour and implement a 40-minute advisory period for daily counseling or tutoring.
“The new schedule we’re looking at will serve students in a lot of different functions,” said Dough Achterman, who led a subcommittee in charge of a developing the new schedule. “It will help the students who aren’t achieving where we would like them to be, and our accelerated students, too.”
The proposal presented to the SBHS Board of Trustees last Wednesday would have students attending all six of their scheduled classes on Monday, for 53 minutes each. The other four days of the week, students will attend three classes a day for 100 minutes each, and a 40-minute advisory period, where students can study, catch up on non-academic school business (class scheduling, counseling etc.) or just read something for fun. Ideally, these will be student groups of 25 students or less.
“As a whole, our students are not completing their homework, and some have legitimate reasons for that – they have to work right after school, or go home and watch younger siblings, so basically they’re working two jobs,” SBHS Principal Debbie Padilla said. “This makes sure that they have some time set aside for that every day. That of course brings up the question of ‘will they use it?,’ but at some point students have to take responsibility, as well. We are just trying to support them and help them make good choices.”
Students still have the option of taking a “zero period” class, ideally for enrichment purposes, that would begin around 7am. This year, seven classes are required for students who do not perform well on standardized tests or whose parents do not sign a waiver.
All told, the proposed changes add an additional 53 minutes to each student’s day, without the extra hour for a zero period.
“Part of our job is to prepare students for what life will be like after high school,” said Padilla. “So a schedule that’s seven hours a day with two breaks is a lot closer to what it’s like holding down a full-time job than our current schedule is.”
According to research conducted by the schedule subcommittee, most of the top-performing schools in the nation offer some sort of mandatory advisory period for students. Researchers visited several schools in the region that use advisory time before deciding what SBHS’ schedule would look like.
“This means that we won’t have to cut into somebody’s instructional time to read the daily bulletin, or to do the sexual harassment training we do each year, things like that,” said Achterman. “So our teachers and students can focus on learning.”
The board is set to officially approve the change in schedule next week.
“I think the committee did an excellent job in considering all parties that would be affected by this change, they really did a lot of research,” said Board President Jan Joseph. “And if we can get our kids to see their teachers three times a week, instead of twice depending on their weekly schedule, that’s really a neat idea.”
The proposed changes do alter teacher work hours, and the San Benito High School Teachers Association has been negotiating with the district since last Tuesday as to how teachers will be compensated for their extra time. According to SBHSTA President Chuck Schallhorn, the union plans to have negotiations wrapped up in time to have teachers vote before the schedule goes before the board on May 24.
“Under our old contract, we were required to be at school twenty minutes before class and twenty minutes after, in order to see kids who need extra help,” said Schallhorn. “Now that that time is being relocated, we need to figure out what fair compensation is… Again, compensation isn’t necessarily money. We’re not interested in bankrupting the school district.”
SBHS educators are anticipating that, should the new schedule be ratified, there will be many logistical challenges in ensuring the advisory period runs smoothly and that students are attending. Staff development time is being set aside over the summer so that teachers will be able to learn how to use advisory periods effectively. Ultimately, however, educators believe that the extra time is worth the challenge not only for students’ academic success, but their personal development as well.
“We have nearly 3,000 students, and right now the problem is that some of them can get lost,” said Padilla. “With an advisory teacher, students will have at least one adult on campus that they will know well and can go to, and it’s a way for us to return to that small-school feeling that we used to have.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
