The San Benito High School Board of Trustees voted unanimously
Wednesday night to alter board policy calling for a mandatory
seven-period instruction schedule to a six period load
– a move educators believe will give underachieving students an
opportunity to thrive and offer extra time for students looking for
academic enrichment.
Hollister – The San Benito High School Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday night to alter board policy calling for a mandatory seven-period instruction schedule to a six period load – a move educators believe will give underachieving students an opportunity to thrive and offer extra time for students looking for academic enrichment.
“I think that ultimately this will be a huge advantage for students,” said SBHS Superintendent Jean Burns Slater.
Currently, all students are required to take seven classes each semester, unless test scores or GPA qualify them to waive the earliest course, which begins at 7:45am each day and lasts 50 minutes. The remaining six classes are attended on alternate days and are nearly twice as long. Often, though not always, the early period allows room for a remediation course or an extra elective in the students’ schedule.
However, students, teachers and parents alike have complained repeatedly about the schedule, which was adopted before the beginning of the fall 2005 semester. Grade reports offered at the Wednesday night meeting indicated that students enrolled in an early morning first period class were consistently outperformed by students taking the same course during the regular school day.
“Philosophically, if you have a student who is struggling, putting them in an extra class isn’t going to help very much,” said Principal Debbie Padilla. “Really it just puts on more pressure, and in those circumstances they won’t be successful.”
Though the policy has been altered to mandate six blocks, a zero period will still be offered – ideally for motivated students looking to take courses they wouldn’t be able to fit into their school day.
The policy change has set the groundwork for a new block schedule, which will be brought before the board at a later date. Currently, two options have been presented to the board, both of which include a “Baler Connections” period, which offers students an opportunity for tutorial, guidance counseling or extra curricular activities.
“Anytime you put aside a portion of the day to assist students, it’s going to benefit them,” Burns Slater said.
The policy change prompted some lively discussion before the vote, as many present at the board meeting believed the policy should not be changed without taking graduation requirements into account. SBHS currently requires 235 completed credits for graduation. With a six-block schedule in place, students can complete a maximum of 240 credits over four years, which could work against students who fall behind and need make-up credits to graduate.
A six-block schedule would also require fewer teachers as fewer students are expected to take a zero-period class. Burns Slater says that no layoffs are planned to comply with the new policy, but that natural attrition from teachers retiring or moving would make up for the change. The switch to a six-block day, however, could save SBHS $450,000 each year in staffing costs, Padilla said.
“I think this is a real plus, it allows students to focus on core academic areas,” she said. “But it also gives students on the fast track through high school the opportunity to enrich themselves or participate in ASB.”
The schedule change for the 2005-2006 school years riled teachers last September so much that they filed an unfair labor practices charges against the district for changing the conditions and hours of their employment. Teachers had tentatively agreed to the schedule change before it went in at the start of the current school year, but never ratified the change. The unfair labor practice charge is still pending.
