There is a good chance that South students will not be on the trimester schedule next school year.

MCCSC Superintendent Jeff Hauswald acknowledged Friday that BHSS and BHSN may alter their current high school schedules. If the plan is confirmed, South would lose its trimester schedule while North would replace its block schedule. Both high schools could be on semesters with more class periods per day, starting in the 2024-25 school year.  

Hauswald said central administration is looking at the school schedules through an “equity lens.” He said the team had identified the lack of a consistent schedule for high school as inequitable. “We are moving forward with a common goal for the ‘24-’25 school year.” 

When students transfer from one high school to another, they lose credits because the schools are on different schedules. “We believe it would be more equitable” to align the high schools, Hauswald said. 

While many South students have heard rumors about a change to a 7-period day, Hauswald said no schedule has been decided upon. 

Underclassmen, especially juniors on path to an early graduation next year, would experience the pros and cons of this system firsthand. Junior Vivian Gill believes the potential change holds no benefit. “It’s extremely unnecessary,” Gill stated that “if both schedules work for both schools, then there’s no point in changing it.” Additionally, junior Macy Hays said that “five periods is much better [than seven], because that’s what they’ve done for so long.”

South has had the trimester schedule for at least 24 years. Faculty voted in favor of the trimester schedule in the late 1990s. 

While no final schedule has been chosen, a major student concern revolves around management of additional classes each day. Sophomore Kirin Bowden expressed concern for time management — if South moves to a seven period schedule. “I think that [the schedule change] is a really bad idea because I like having five periods a day and I can focus on certain classes,” Bowden said, “seven periods a day is a lot to focus on.” Although this schedule change won’t affect senior Lainey Jeffers, she said she “wouldn’t want two extra classes worth of homework to do on top of extracurriculars.” 

Students also expressed concerns about the possibility of shorter class periods. This causes worries for students who think that there’s not enough time to grasp the information that’s instructed. Sophomore Elowen Wiltz said, “It’s going to be less efficient because we would have 40 minutes per class…and so we’re not going to have enough time to learn the actual material.”  Senior Xochitl Ruvalcaba said the time change “is less time for students [in class] and more homework on top of the extracurriculars.”

Another issue that students see in this schedule change is the amount of time there is for classes at Hoosier Hills during the school day. Instead of the full two hours that students receive now, they worry about getting less time for these hands-on classes. Junior Ethan Richardson recently joined Hoosier Hills’ cooking class. “I think it’s outrageous [if there is a change]. Hoosier Hills is already a lot of work in [two hours].” Richardson said. Senior Paige Hull, who is taking a firefighting course at Hoosier Hills, also commented, “It’ll only be 80 minutes long and that’s not enough time.” 

Moreover, students wonder about credit recovery with this schedule. If a student fails a class with a two semester schedule, they take a summer school class or take the same course the next year in order to graduate on time. However, with South’s three trimester schedule, students can retake the same class the same year in order to pass and receive full credit for that class. Gill commented, “[The schedule] disrupts the credits, the courses, and even if someone fails a class. If you’re a senior that needs to retake a class, that doesn’t work.” 

Hauswald said administration will seek student and teacher input before a change is made. “We will try to identify a common schedule that improves learning conditions for all students,” he said. 

Information about the proposed changes will be sent to families Monday, Sept. 25. The school board will meet Tuesday, September 26th, at 6 p.m. in the Co-Lab building.