By Tim DeLouchrey
Sports Editor
Last Thursday, January 15, a school council meeting was held to discuss solutions to the hectic nature of the school day. The group focused on the limited time between classes and potential alterations to the schedule to solve the problem.
Principal Jim Antonelli, dean Bob Ware, history teacher Mr. McHugh, and guidance counselor Wendy Pecachek were among the WA faculty members who attended the small meeting in the principal’s conference room. Two students were also at the meeting along with former WA faculty and interested parents.
The meeting begin with the members voicing their opinions and grievances with the current schedule the school operates on. A strong concerned shared by almost everyone in the room was the fact that there was only four minutes between classes and the hectic nature that it caused. Students and teachers said they often found themselves rushing from place to place with no time in between to stop at a locker or bring all of their things to their next classroom.
Another fault mentioned pertained to the lack of a morning break. Antonelli, who has recently been researching schedules in the surrounding high schools, said that many of the other schools incorporated a 10-15 minute break that fell after the first class. The morning break would give students to catch up on breakfast or take a breather after starting their day.
The main concern about actually changing the schedule however was a state mandate that required students to be physically in the classroom for 990 hours per year. WA students currently spend about 1,003 hours in the classroom per year, just 13 hours over the minimum requirement. Other schools have maneuvered around the requirement by adding time to the school day. Some schools in the Boston area have added as much as 40 minutes to their days. For the most part however, schools in the region have just been adding 10 to 20 minutes to their days. The cafeteria at WA, which is self-sustaining, would benefit largely from this, as students could buy more during the breakfast break.
Proposed solutions included some subtle ones. One proposed idea was that a minute or two be taken from each class and added to the passing time between the classes. That solution was designed by McHugh but unfortunately left WA just short of the 990 hour mark. Another proposed idea included a five block day with two classes dropped each rotation. A break was also figured into that schedule and the 990 hour mark was met with just a few hours to spare. That solution was configured by Antonelli.
No final decisions were made regarding changes, but it was made clear that the current schedule that the school resides by has its faults. Talks regarding changes will continue at the next school council meeting.
Click here to read my opinion piece on the scheduling debacle.
