As the end of the 2023-2024 school year approaches, SVHS students have been informed that the current schedule must be changed to accommodate for the legal amount of instructional minutes required for a school day. Even with the addition of a 7th period, Dragon Time (study hall), and social-emotional learning classes (SEL), school days still fail to meet the state’s annual instructional minute requirements. However, SVHS is not the only school dealing with the scheduling issue. Many schools in California that start at 8:30 are having schedule adjustments as well, including Petaluma High, Casa Grande High, Napa High, and more.
A scheduling committee was tasked with devising a new schedule by January and cementing it by March. Each department voted, however the decision lacked some departmental representation due to the short voting session held during lunch. Following the departments, the faculty senate voted resulting in a tie. After a discussion, a compromise was made and the final agreement was to have three C-days and two block days.
Monday, Tuesday, and Friday are all C-days. Class periods are each 1 hour long with a 10-minute break and a 30-minute lunch. Wednesday is an A-day (periods 1, 2, 3) and Thursday is a B-day (periods 4, 5, 6). Dragon time will now only be on Thursday after school.
Anu Breeland, sophomore, stated that students are already having a hard time showing up to school and this new schedule will make it even worse. She says this new schedule, especially for students balancing homework and sports, won’t “leave any time for relaxation.”
Sarah Juhasz, junior, states “I hate it. I’m not going to get any work done because of the long C-days, and I’m not even going to get out of the parking lot on time for lunch.” Most interviewed students were not fans of the new schedule that makes classes longer and breaks shorter, but these changes are necessary to meet the correct amount of instructional minutes legislated by the California State Law.
Mr. Anspach, math teacher, shares that he favors this new schedule and voted for it. He said he “didn’t want to go back to having the two-hour long classes that [SVHS] had when it was block schedule, and… didn’t want to do the extreme of having every day be a C-day.” He elaborated that “regardless of what was chosen, students are going to hate it because classes are going to be longer.” Either way, the staff and facility were going to have to add instructional minutes to the current schedule.
The school has never experienced a schedule like this before, with three C-days and two block days. These new changes will be an adjustment for not only students but faculty as well. Administration is trying to keep the student’s best interests in mind while also pleasing teachers and meeting instructional minute laws. California State Law regulates that all high schools must start no earlier than 8:30 and have a certain number of minutes that students have to be in class. With these challenges, SVHS had a difficult time coming up with schedules that would fit these regulations.
While many students are not pleased with the new schedule, the school is going to give it one a shot and see if it accommodates the students and teachers while meeting all requirements from California State Laws.
