By Lizzie Tsuang
Staff Writer
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees held a board workshop on Jan. 14 to discuss proposed changes to Costa summer school and online course policies, as well as adjustments to master scheduling through Power- School for the 2015-16 school year.
The board discussed having a maximum of 10 transcript credits a year over the summer per student and restricting students to take one course in a department over the summer or online throughout their Costa academic career, not including athletics.
“I think the workshop went very well,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said. “It was great to hear from so many people on the issue.”
If the board approves these policies, it plans to work with MBX to leave the summer school registration window open longer and create schedules with respect to student demand.
Along with the discussion of proposed summer school and online policies, the board and audience also examined proposed alterations to the PowerSchool master scheduling, which includes early review of course waivers, increased PowerSchool training for Costa staff and heightened course availability in the wake of the decision to possibly reduce summer school options. These changes will only apply to Costa.
“I think there’s a lot of things MBUSD can do to improve this process and make it better for the this coming school year,” Matthews said. “By altering our master scheduling, MBUSD can make the overall process more efficient for all of our students, staff, and parents.”
The new plan for reviewing waivers incorporates Vice Principal Ian Drummond accepting waivers for honors and Advanced Placement courses in the 2015-16 school year in February and May, as opposed to last year’s single opportunity for students to submit the waivers in late spring. Additionally, Costa administration will give staff further training with PowerSchool to increase scheduling efficiency.
“We have learned from last year’s mistakes,” Drummond said at the meeting. “By getting the waivers out earlier this year, we can make a majority of the decisions by March and, hopefully, clear the pathway in time for scheduling.”
According to Matthews, course availability is limited due to the large amount of classes that are singletons and doubletons, meaning they are offered in only one or two periods. A proposed solution to this was to increase the amount of fifth period courses offered.
“We’ve considered adopting a flex schedule where we can find a way to shift the schedule back into the day, but still allow students to take the extra academic or elective classes they want,” Board President Bill Fournell said at the meeting.
Due to the limitations within fifth period, more students have been taking zero period courses. However, representatives from the Medical Advisory Board advised the Board against offering courses during zero period, as it was proven to affect student’s health and learning capabilities.
“Students are very pressured with the amount of classes they’re taking,” Costa guidance counselor Corrine Lee-Iwai said. “We need a policy that can meet their needs without setting overwhelming standards.”
The topics will be open for further discussion at the Board meeting on Wednesday. The board predicts that these decisions will be finalized in time for the upcoming school year.
“These challenges have more than one solution, but it’s good to hear the concerns and ideas of the community and staff,” Fournell said.
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