Committee reports on 2014-15 MLHS schedule

MOSES LAKE - The 2014-15 class schedule at Moses Lake High School could feature seven 50-minute classes, with students attending class on a sliding schedule starting at different times of the morning. That's the tentative proposal from a committee of high school administrators and teachers asked to come up with a schedule that addressed overcrowding.

The committee presented its tentative conclusions to the Moses Lake School Board at a workshop Thursday. Principal Josh Meek said the team looked at a lot of possibilities, but the seven period day looked like the best option.

If the proposal is implemented, students would be broken into five groups, Meek said, with 20 percent of the student body in each group. Each group would get a different starting time. The first class for the first group would begin at 7 a.m., he said.

The first class for the second group would be at 7:55 a.m., the third group would start at 8:50 a.m., the fourth group at 9:45 a.m. and the last group at 10:40 a.m. The last class for the last group would be dismissed at 5:55 p.m., Meek said.

Each student would attend seven classes, with an eighth period for lunch, he said. Committee members are anticipating that most students would attend their classes one after the other, he said, but the new schedule would allow for some flexibility.

Some courses (automotive classes were cited as an example) would require more than one class period, Chad Utter, one of the committee members, said. The four period day was good for some classes because they needed long blocks of time, Utter said, and the seven period day still allows those classes.

One goal of the new schedule is to allow students maximum flexibility, including the chance to attend classes at the Columbia Basin Skills Center, district superintendent Michelle Price said. The skills center is scheduled to open in summer 2014.

The new schedule would require changes in graduation requirements, Meek said. Students could earn a maximum of 28 credits in the new schedule, he said, and the committee tentatively is recommending a graduation requirement of 25 or 26 credits, committee member Enrique Tarver said. That gives kids some extra room if they need it, Tarver said.

Teachers too would be assigned to a track, and hours for aides and support staff would change, Meek said. That will require changes in the district's contracts with the unions representing teachers and aides, committee member Tony Kern said.

Kelly Ramirez said the team met with coaches to answer their questions about the effect on extracurricular activities. Most practices are scheduled because that's the only time they can be scheduled, she said, citing basketball as an example. (Due to the number of students involved, practices run to 9 p.m., she said.)

The sliding schedule will allow flexibility, she said, with the idea of students (and coaches) possibly moving to a different schedule as their seasons end. Most teachers support extracurricular activities, so as long as the new schedule is fair it should work, Kern said.

But the schedule is a work in progress, so there is a lot of work still to be done, Meek said. The committee hasn't answered questions about what will happen on early release days, how if will affect class sizes, scheduling substitutes, meeting with students, staff and department meetings, and what will happen to teachers who share classrooms.

Current students start signing up for classes in March, and board member Vicki Groff asked if the committee had enough time to finish its work. Meek said the timeline has been really short from the beginning, and committee members are taking the attitude that it has to be done in the time allowed.