Scheduling sparks uproar

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board members discussed Thursday the controversy surrounding switching Chapel Hill high schools to block scheduling.

But most of the time was spent receiving comments.

More than 150 people filled the auditorium of Grey Culbreth Middle School and more than 50 got the chance to voice their opinions to the school board.

After more than three hours of discussion, school board members requested potential student-teacher schedule scenarios for the four proposed scheduling changes.

"You are experimenting with the education of a generation," said Jordan Weck, a junior at Chapel Hill High School.

Parents, teachers and students gathered to voice their opinions regarding a proposal that would change the high schools' schedule.

Chapel Hill high school students currently take the same six, 55-minute classes all year.

One proposal, called block scheduling, would require students to take four 90-minute classes that change at the end of the semester, similar to college classes.

While each group voiced its own specific concerns with this proposal, potential effects on Advanced Placement scheduling, gaps in course progression and attention span problems were cited by all.

Superintendent Neil Pedersen addressed the primary concerns of the audience, in addition to pointing out the benefits of a block plan.

"The six-period schedule does have to go," he told the audience.

Pedersen said the six-period plan needs to change because the state has increased the number of classes required to graduate, 1,569 students already take classes outside the regular school day to fulfill requirements, and 55-minute class periods limit the ability to teach some courses.

But students and faculty members said the plan for changing to block scheduling was not well defined and that they were unsure of what to expect from the plan.

In addition, many said they felt that too few studies had been done to determine the benefits of block scheduling, despite Pedersen's comments that he has been studying the issue for two years.

Some students said they would lose important student-teacher interaction time because block scheduling would require larger classes.

Other students said they felt that the only advantage to the plan was the ability to take more classes, which they said was not enough reason to change.

"You're stressing the quantity of classes, not the quality," Weck said.

Marilyn Metzler, a German teacher at Chapel Hill High, said teachers questioned whether block scheduling is feasible and how the schedule would affect teaching methods.

"I want some say in how my course is taught," she said.

Deviations from the block plan include taking classes every other day and splitting one or two of the 90-minute periods into two classes. Both options would require that classes be taken all year.

Another option would extend the school day to add a seventh period.

Thursday's discussion followed a forum held Monday at Chapel Hill High in which hundreds of students and many faculty members met with Pedersen and school board member Lisa Stuckey during their lunch period to express concern about the proposed change.

Pedersen urged the school board Thursday to make a decision over the course of its next couple of meetings and implement the plan in the 2006-07 school year.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.