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Class schedules cause frustration at junior highs
By MICHELLE KU
Changes are coming to Cupertino's junior high schools next year--whether parents are happy with them or not.
Since last year, a committee has been working on a new schedule so that the district's junior high schools come into compliance with the education code. For the last three years, the district has been in violation of the code, which asks that schools in the same district provide students with the same amount of teaching time.
But the new plans have raised the ire of some parents and teachers, who complain that the changes aren't fair.
The school board plans to discuss the issue at its March 9 meeting at Stocklmeir School.
"It's clear that the schedules are not completely satisfactory to two of our junior highs," said Steve Trinwith, president of the Cupertino Education Association. "Within the teaching ranks and the community, there are real problems that have developed for two of the schools. The district has positioned itself. The schools have positioned themselves. The parents have positioned themselves. It's time to move back to the best interest for the kids."
The problem, according to Trinwith and others, is that two of the four junior highs, Hyde and Miller, will be dramatically lowering their instructional minutes in the fall. Some teachers and parents at those schools would prefer to see the lower-minute junior highs increase teaching time.
"Why are the two schools with more minutes out of compliance?" said one Hyde parent at a Feb. 11 community meeting. "Why aren't the two schools with less? Why don't they add 100 minutes and we cut 100 minutes?"
Currently, Hyde and Miller, both on seven-period schedules, have 1,750 minutes per day. Kennedy has a 1,590-minute school day on a six-period schedule. Cupertino has a 1,570-minute day on a seven-period schedule.
The Junior High School Scheduling Committee--made up of teachers and administrators--created four options for a standard 1,575-minute day with a common 45-minute preparation time for teachers before school.
"When you add up all the minutes, it's a loss of 18 full [24-hour] days," said Margaret Ann Joiner, a parent at Hyde. "It seems crazy to cut out 18 days while the state has just added four days to the school year."
Since principals of the junior high schools in the district began making presentations on the four schedule options in February, parents from Hyde and Miller have told the school board about their dissatisfaction.
The issue has been placed on the agenda for the next school board meeting, which will give trustees a chance to respond to parents' concerns.
At both community and school board meetings, parents expressed frustration that they weren't involved in developing the scheduling options.
John Erkman, assistant superintendent for instruction, responded that parents shouldn't be involved. "The issue of schedules is a contract issue that would not involve parents," he said.
Parents said the scheduling options were also unsatisfactory because their children would lose an elective period and school minutes.
Students at Hyde and Miller currently have two electives a year, but when the school switches to the six-period schedule the staff has selected, students will have only one.
"I think students will miss the second elective," said Lisa Hughes, a Hyde parent.
Students who meet a criteria and want to have a second elective can do so by adding a zero-period class. But each school can only offer zero periods to about 150 students, said Hyde Principal Steve Parker.
Kennedy currently offers a zero period at 7 a.m. for its students, but zero period is only open to eighth-graders who take a foreign language.
Providing a zero period through any particular criteria is illegal, according to Laura Wagner, from the state Department of Education.
"If there is not enough space available to accommodate all the students who wish to participate in zero period, the district should adopt a process which provides each student with an equal opportunity to fill the available slots," she said. "In such a situation, we recommend that the district fill the slots using a lottery process."
The district is seeking a clarification on zero period, Erkman said.
In terms of class time, at Hyde and Miller, students stand to lose 175 minutes a day.
When the committee began developing the schedules, Superintendent Bill Bragg defined two mandates: equalize instructional minutes in all schools and lower class-size average to 31 or less.
The parameters set by the superintendent meant that a number of scheduling possibilities were eliminated.
The committee came up with the 1,575-minute schedules after taking teachers' contractual obligations of a 7.25-hour work day into consideration.
Another problem is that teachers at Hyde and Miller will lose one of their two preparation periods.
Class sizes average 35 students at Hyde and Miller. In reducing the number of students per class, teachers lose a preparation period to handle the overflow.
"I haven't heard parents valuing lowering class size," Miller teacher Jeff Calden said. "Teachers don't mind and the parents don't mind. The kids are educated and the test scores are high. So why are we doing it?"
Principals are now expected to choose, with consultation of staff and parents, which option their schools will follow.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
