The official high school schedule adjustment announced by MCCSC

Bloomington, Indiana – In an email to teachers, students, and families on October 20, the Monroe County Community School Corporation revealed the much anticipated adjustment to the high school calendar for the 2024–25 academic year.

According to the email, classes will rotate every two days under the new hybrid block schedule, which was announced by MCCSC Superintendent Jeff Hauswald. Students will now be able to take eight credits every semester and class periods will be shortened to sixty minutes. The email also states that it would include intervention time, which will enable regular academic help.

The Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship, Bloomington Graduation School, and North and South High Schools will all have schedules that are in sync with each other as a result of the schedule adjustment. At the moment, Bloomington South follows a trimester plan while Bloomington North follows a block schedule. The move will drastically shorten Bloomington North’s present 80-minute classes and move both schools to a semester-based structure.

In the email, Hauswald stated that the schedule modifications were made out of a concern for parity in the district. According to a poll on student experiences completed by 61.5% of students, 38% of Bloomington North students said that their lessons were too long. Students who received free or reduced lunches were more likely to think that their classes were too long.

“As an administrative team charged with implementing an equity-centered strategic plan, status quo is not acceptable when the beneficiaries of the current schedule design are less complex, less diverse, and have fewer exceptions than our overall student body,” the email read.

According to Hauswald, the new timetable will facilitate high school transfers between Bloomington and offer more elective courses. The email states that community members will continue to participate in focus groups as scheduled, offering them the chance to offer suggestions and input for the 2024–2025 academic year.

Many staff members and students voiced their worries about the proposed shift before the timetable change was made public.

In addition to hearsay, the majority of students learned of the timetable modification when Hauswald verified the reports in an article published in The Optimist, the school newspaper, on September 22. Principal Matthew Stark sent a letter to Bloomington North families on September 25th informing them of the schedule change. At the time, the letter emphasized that no formal schedule had been created.

Co-president of the sophomore class at Bloomington North, Kelton O’Connell, stated that although students were aware of the timetable change, they were unsure on how to proceed. On September 29, the students had an open forum where they discussed the schedule adjustment, shared their thoughts, and asked questions of their administrator. According to O’Connell, the administration was understanding and receptive to the viewpoints of the students.

“Instead of getting shut down like we expected, we were asked to change the date so our principal could attend because he said he wanted to be there to see what we were talking about and make himself available to answer any questions,” O’Connell said.

Prior to the announcement, O’Connell stated that some of the issues expressed by the kids were reduced class periods, the need for teachers to rework their curricula, and the elimination of tutorial, which allows students to sign up for extracurricular activities or meetings with teachers.

“We were able to get a survey sent out to every student at North, so even students who could not make it to the forum could voice their concerns,” O’Connell said.

According to O’Connell, students created a website to inform fellow students, parents, and community members of the latest developments. A timeline of all the activities leading up to the schedule change, frequently asked questions, and upcoming opportunities for students to become involved are all included on the website.

Junior Jake Cocalis of Bloomington South stated that his school’s students had been attempting to work with those of Bloomington North to resolve the issue.

“We do not want the schedule change at all,” Cocalis said before the official schedule change was announced. “If they do force a common schedule, our course of action would be to present data and evidence.”

According to Cocalis, Bloomington South students have been informing fellow students, parents, and community members about the schedule change by utilizing Facebook and Instagram.

Prior to the announcement, a faculty member at MCCSC who wished to remain anonymous because their contract prohibited them from speaking to the media about school operations, stated that, in the teachers’ opinion, the main worry is that the decision is being made too quickly and that the required steps are not being taken to ascertain whether this is the best course of action. The instructor was very worried about the students missing their tutorial period.

“We know that whether they are high-performing students who want to take a lot of AP classes or if they are low-performing students who need resources to gain credits, they all need that extra class period,” the MCCSC faculty member said. “Any move away from the current schedule is a move away from equity rather than toward equity, which is used as the rationale for doing this.”