By Robin Janotta
News Editor
Mira Costa teachers voted June 9 to remove the homeroom period from the master schedule next year.
Last June, Costa teachers voted to add the period, but due to unpopularity with teachers and students, they chose to hold a vote to rescind it. When staff voted in June, the results were 53 in favor and 45 against. Then, in the recent vote the teachers voted 69-48 to remove it from the 2010-2011 school year.
“I was disappointed with the results. I don’t think that with the old schedule we’ll be able to get everything that we need done,” principal Julie Ruisinger said.
Homeroom was originally designed to give information to students that was taking up class time. However, some students say that this proved to be ineffective, as many found it hard to form a mentor-like relationship with their teachers.
“Homeroom didn’t give students anything they couldn’t have in their normal classes, and I wasn’t particularly close to my homeroom teacher,” junior Kaila Zitron said.
Some teachers agreed that the homeroom policy proved to be ineffective.
“I don’t think that homeroom served the purpose of developing bonding relationships with students,” history teacher William Fauver said. “I believe that can be done in classes.”
However, there were some success stories. Some teachers found homeroom to be beneficial and thought that the decision to rescind the period was premature.
“It didn’t have enough time to grow into its full potential, but homeroom could have been beneficial to faculty and students alike,” English teacher Jonathan Westerberg said.
More changes were also made to the scheduling process next year. In the past, students were allowed to take AP classes by simply signing a waiver form and having the prerequisites.
The waiver process will return next year, but students that take AP classes will be required to sign a form that prohibits them from switching out.
“This was a way to make students think about how many APs they’re taking and knowing whether or not they can really handle it. This is not an audition to just try on a schedule and see if maybe it will work,” Wright said.
Although the commitment form states that the student must stay in the class for one year, the administration may consider letting students switch out of their classes on a case by case basis.
“If the students are failing, then at the end of the semester we can look at possibly making a change. They kind of have to tough it out,” Wright said.
Students will also receive their schedules over the summer, instead of on the first day of school like in previous years.
“It will be nice to be able to compare schedules with friends in advance and plan accordingly,” junior Alec Kane said.
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