Science teachers decry Maine Dist. 207 schedule changes

Science teachers are upset with a proposed schedule change at Maine Township High School District 207 that would cut their instructional times by more than 100 minutes per week.

But administrators argue the proposed “Hybrid 4” schedule is good because it would increase classroom time for most classes by 17 minutes each week.

Administrators and teachers have been examining possible changes to the district's traditional bell schedule for the last five years as part of a district schedule study committee. The proposed hybrid schedule combines elements of an eight-period day and a block schedule.

Right now, most classes at the three District 207 high schools meet for 45 minutes everyday, while science classes meet for 70 minutes.

Under the proposed new schedule, each class would meet four days a week, and on one of those days, an extended class period would allow for more in-depth learning and lab experiments, officials say.

For instance, a math class would meet for 50 minutes each on Monday and Friday, 46 minutes on Thursday, and 90 minutes on Tuesday, but not meet on Wednesday.

District officials say the changes would decrease passing period times, increase time for students to get extra help from teachers and counselors, and allow students more time for internships.

But teachers who addressed school board members Monday night said now is not the time to reduce time for science classes, when science has been identified as increasingly important in educational circles.

“How will we prepare our students for the scientific and technological experiences that they will need both in college and in the workplace?” said David Schultz, a Maine East science teacher who was on the district schedule committee.

The Maine Teachers Association, the teachers union, has also released a 66-page report that concludes the schedule changes would lead to lower student Advanced Placement scores.

Superintendent Ken Wallace said changing schedules is always difficult, but his administration's proposal comes from a “wholistic” approach to improving student achievement.

“The things that our science teachers enjoy and argue on behalf of — they're all absolutely relevant,” Wallace said. “The problem is that we have this unbalanced model that relegates deep time of inquiry for science every single day at the expense of everything else.”

The school board initially was set to vote on the new schedule Monday because it was the last board meeting for outgoing Assistant Superintendent for Technology and Learning Hank Thiele, who worked on the schedule proposal, Wallace said.

But the item was tabled “because of inaccurate information spread this weekend through a social media campaign that has misinformed the public,” according to a District 207 statement posted to its website before the meeting. In addition, two board members were absent, Wallace said.

Now, the district is planning to hold parent forums before the vote at each school this summer to discuss the schedule changes. With the new plan, the earliest the school board could take a vote would be September, implementing it for the 2018-2019 school year. Thiele starts next month as superintendent of Downers Grove High School District 99.