For those of you who are still confused about class time under the block schedule, PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING:

      Under the traditional class schedule, a student is in a class for 55 minutes per day for 180 days. That equals a total of 9900 minutes or 165 HOURS per class per year.

      Under the block schedule, a student is in a class for 90 minutes per day for 90 days. That equals a total of 8100 minutes or 135 HOURS per class per year.

      THE DIFFERENCE IN TOTAL CLASS TIME IS 30 HOURS PER CLASS PER YEAR.

      Here is another way to look at the diffence: Under the traditional schedule, the school-year "pie" (180 days) is divided into six pieces/classes per student. Under the block schedule, the same "pie" (still 180 days) is divided into eight pieces/classes per student. Will those eight pieces be the same size as the original six? Of course they won't!

      If administrators, parents, teachers, and/or students will not accept the FACT that class time is reduced under block scheduling, the more crucial issue of curriculum reduction will never be addressed. Should teachers teach a smaller amount of curriculum at the same depth, or should teachers teach the same amount of curriculum at a more shallow depth? It is unfair to lead students and parents to believe that the same amount of curriculum can be taught at the same level of depth with the same amount of practice and reinforcement as under the traditional schedule.

      Because administrators are not addressing curriculum reduction under the block schedule, the reduction is being handled by teachers at the individual high schools. Unfortunately, this is leading to a lack of curriculum coordination from school to school. Right now, there are teachers and students at both senior high schools who are struggling to come to terms with the various levels of student knowledge and preparation within the same class. Review material is "new" material or "barely-touched-on" material for many of the juniors who were under block scheduling last year. This has always been an issue for transfer students, but rarely for students within the same district. Teachers have openly talked about the problem with their classes and have also made phone calls to high school teachers about the situation.

      Teachers in this district do not need to be blaming one another for curriculum discrepancies caused by a flawed system. Instead, administrators need to step forward and confront this issue openly and honestly. The first, and most important, step is to admit that the block schedule reduces class instruction time.