Hybrid Schedule Approved for Douglas High Schools

A few parents and students appeared to circle around Douglas County School System Superintendent Gordon Pritz in a spirited discussion after Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.

In another area,  junior Zachary Pittman and his parents were talking to Rob Brown, the district’s director of high school instruction.

The students and parents were concerned about the 5-0 vote by the school board to approve changing the 2011-12 high school class schedule to a hybrid form and scrap using the 4x4 block schedule solely, as the school system had done exclusively for 15 years.

With no additional cost, the hybrid will offer year-long instruction wherever possible through a combination of various schedules to be identified by the individual school. Schedules can be through 45-minute, eight-period days (split blocks), the current 90-minute 4x4 blocks, an A/B format (an alternate day block), or a combination of each of these approaches, Brown explained to the board.

The change is an effort to stop students from going months without taking a core class, such as math, science, English and social studies. Another hope is that it would lessen the impact to grades from student absences and suspensions.

“We need to reschedule because we signed up for a block schedule and not an eight-period day,” Pittman said, adding that he gathered 250 signatures against implementing the schedule change. “Of the students I asked to sign (the petition), 90 percent were against the eight-period day.”

Pittman said he actually thought the hybrid schedule was a “good plan” but believed that its problems and kinks needed to be worked out before starting in August.

Pittman said students taking prerequisite and Advance Placement courses at the same time are two of the biggest problems with the new schedule. However, Brown said the research done by the district's 31-person committee indicated AP scores improved with year-long instruction.

“The higher-level and dedicated students will be able to adjust, but the average to lower students, in my opinion, will struggle, and it might be an overload,” Pittman said.

To alleviate some of his concerns, Brown took Pittman’s name and assured him that he would soon meet with him at Alexander High.

“I’ll come and see you and look at your schedule,” Brown said. “I’ve been doing" (schedules for 10 years).

Alexander High junior Knigyl Barnes said the schedule change “snuck up” on students.

“We didn’t know anything about it, and teachers told us they weren’t supposed to say anything about it,” he said after the meeting. “I’m honestly furious because they didn’t give us a chance to vote on it. The survey was very bias and confusing. I’ll have so much work now.”

Brown said the school system ran a six-question survey that was announced in the schools and posted on the district's website. It ran from March 30 to April 29. However, only 2 percent of students and parents (497 out of 22,281) and 40 percent of teachers (186 of 464) responded.

Brown said 90 percent of the concerns about the scheduling change hail from one traditional high performing school.

The survey was made after the committee—made up of 31 teachers, administrators and curriculum coaches—met twice a month starting in February. They looked at other districts' schedules and other aspects of the issue.

A teacher first suggested changing the district’s high school schedule in October when she had growing concerns about it, Brown said.

“The schedule won’t solve apathy, but it certainly will give our teachers a better opportunity to engage our students in shorter periods,” Brown said. “Anytime you do a survey, there’s a risk the response rate will be poor.”

Brown said committee members then returned to their research to determine what schedule best served  students.

“If we don’t come in here and make a recommendation after all the information we received that says something is better for ours students and not act on it, then we have failed our students,” he said. “My plans are to meet with (the high school staffs) and let them know what our goals are and let them know how it will affect them directly and benefit them directly.”

Board member Janet Kelley, whose District 3 serves Lithia Springs High School, praised Brown and the committee who recommended the schedule change.

“Kudos,” she said. “It’s a long time coming.”

Pritz added: “The year-long instruction puts our students on an even playing field with students across the country.”