Over the past few years, the District 219 Board of Education has been discussing the possibility of modifying the school day. Their rationale is that the current period system does not work well due to the need for extra periods in science classes, as well as reading extensions in several English classes, which can become obstacles in creating schedules.

Currently, the debate has been narrowed down to three options: the current model with no homeroom, an eight period day with no lab periods for sciences, and an A/B block schedule.

Each schedule plan was designed with the goal of improving students’ ability to learn effectively, though they approach the issue in various ways. Since the nine period model presented to the board is pretty much the same as the current one, I’m not going to bother discussing it.

The eight period day, however, does contain a significant difference from the current schedule: the absence of lab periods. This increases the amount of class time for other classes, and makes scheduling easier.

The block schedule, on the other hand, is a much more radical change. It turns classes into 90 minute blocks, which meet every other day. There is also a block on each day which is broken up to contain three pairs of 25 minute lunch blocks and a class within a 150 minute period, which would allow students to visit The Point or meet with teachers.

The block schedule is also more similar to a college schedule, as classes meet for longer, but not every day. Based on the format of the schedule, it seems to make it easier to take eight classes, as it can be done while having a full lunch time slot.

Though I know the board has their reasons for wanting to change the school day, I am fairly skeptical of their plans for several reasons. First, one of the models presented makes it harder for students to take more classes than they can now. The eight period day limits students to seven classes, as they must have a lunch. On the current model, there is enough space for eight classes, including a science class with lunch opposite lab periods, without even taking early bird classes into account.

While this problem is not as apparent in the block schedule, that has its own issues. The one that stands out to me instantly is physical education classes. To me, it makes no sense to schedule gym classes to meet every other day, and for 90 minutes on top of that.

Many students are exhausted at the end of 42 minutes. Making gym twice as long does not seem to help with that. Also, athletes in VPE won’t have the ability to lift on a daily basis in their gym class as they do now. Block schedules also make it tougher for teachers since it is a fairly radical change.

Personally, I don’t see any need to change the schedule. It doesn’t work perfectly, but there is not any single schedule that will. If there was, this would be a much easier choice for the board.

However, something I’ve noticed is that our current schedule, the nine period system, came into existence to replace another format nearly a decade ago. This other format, the mod system, broke the school day up into 15 minute mods, with classes taking up either three or four mods, depending on the subject and level of the class.

From what I’ve heard from current teachers who were either students or faculty when this system was in place, it worked very well. It gave students more time in classes where it was needed, and gave them more flexibility in their schedules, like there is in college.

If the board wants to switch to a schedule that emulates a college schedule, this should be the way to go. Oddly enough, this schedule has not been brought up again since it was discontinued.

The way I see it, the board needs to stop messing around with the school day, or go back to a system like the mods. After all, there’s no point in fixing a system that can’t be perfected, and isn’t broken to begin with.