Mira Costa faculty and staff voted June 8-10 to reject a new bell schedule for the 2011-12 school year that would have created weekly late starts and slightly longer school days.
Though this alteration of the schedule will not be implemented next year, it should be reconsidered in the future. The schedule change would prove beneficial to both Costa’s student body and its staff.
According to Costa’s Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association representative Karl Kurz, teachers rejected the proposed changes with a vote of 39-36. However, according to Kurz, discrepancies with the voting process resulted in six more ballots cast than voters.
In order to avoid inaccurate and potentially illegitimate results in the future, voting procedures must be more closely regulated.
The rejected plan, devised by Mira Costa’s Education Council, was formed upon requests by teachers to schedule time for more frequent department collaboration, according to Principal Ben Dale.
In the proposed schedule, first period would start at 9:28 a.m. on Mondays from October to April, adding six minutes to school everyday during these months.
The proposed changes grant teachers the time needed to meet with their departments. This year, department meetings were held on double late start days, of which there were only four.
More consistent, longer departmental meetings will allow departments to train new teachers, discuss new ideas and create department consistency.
The infrequent regimen of the existing schedule makes it hard to track the progress of implemented ideas. Meeting more often would allow teachers to keep track of new ideas on a weekly basis.
This consistency will also benefit students. In the past, the sporadic nature of late starts has created confusion for students by creating an unpredictable schedule. The new plan’s unchanging itinerary would provide a more uniform timetable and stop any uncertainty that the student body has for what time to come to school.
Additionally, Monday is a more effective day for a late start than Wednesday. The opportunity to ease into the week would be helpful for everyone at Costa.
Under the proposed plan, zero period students would also start school later. On 9 a.m. late start days this year, zero period starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 7:55 a.m. For approximately the next hour until first period begins, students are released from class while the staff meeting occurs.
The proposed bell schedule would cause zero period to start at 8:44 a.m., eliminating the current gap between zero and first periods that has left zero period students with no class to attend from 8 to 9 a.m.
Although the new schedule would require zero period teachers to leave department meetings before they are over in order to teach their classes, the early departures are necessary to accommodate zero period students. Having zero period teachers leave meetings prematurely is the most reasonable compromise between allowing these students to start later and allowing teachers to attend their meetings.
According to Kurz, many teachers have voiced concerns with an approximate two-day increase in work caused by the six extra minutes daily. If this plan were presented again, the administration should consider negotiating with the teachers’ union to find a way to compensate its members.
One concern raised by the proposed schedule is the potential loss of revenue that could occur without snack periods on Mondays.
However, the funds raised by the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Food Services Department are used mainly to pay for expenses within the department.
Due to this, lost revenue within the Food Services Department would not significantly harm the district as a whole, students or teachers.
Food and Nutrition Services Director Lena Agee expressed concerns that cutting snack could negatively affect students. If implemented, students would have to wait 40 minutes more for their first break than they would on a regular school day.
However, with the added regularity of the new late start schedules, students would be able to plan for the larger gap and accommodate their added hunger by eating a more substantial breakfast. It is in the hands of the students, not the district, to ensure that they remain well fed at school.
The proposed late start schedule is a strong and much-needed plan. It accommodates the teachers’ needs by creating a more beneficial meeting time as well as providing students with a consistent late start schedule. Costa should again consider implementing this proposal in the future.
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