Everett School District officials tried to soothe the anxiety of many parents and students at a meeting Feb. 25, explaining schedule changes planned for next school year and guaranteeing that no student will suffer because of the switch.
More than 200 parents and students attended the meeting, which ended a tumultuous day at Jackson High School.
It started when about 100 students walked out of class about 9 a.m. to protest the changes. Another protest preceded the official meeting when about three dozen demonstrating students greeted district officials and parents as they arrived.
The students who walked out in the morning, angry and saying they weren’t included in the decision to change the school’s schedule, milled around campus for about an hour before returning to classes.
The district next year plans to dump Jackson’s four-period block, which has been around for the school’s nine-year history, in favor of a six-period day.
Superintendent Carol Whitehead sent a letter to parents on Feb. 12 explaining the changes, which are the first to result from a report by the BERC Group, an independent consultant that is examining the school’s structure and programs. The final report should be finished within three weeks.
Many parents and students were upset that Whitehead and school board members did not attend the meeting. Everett Associate Superintendent Karst Brandsma said he asked Whitehead not to come because “to have her here … and talk about the changes would be more in line with trying to create controversy (about) why the decision was made.”
Brandsma also said Whitehead’s decision is final, and it is now his and other district officials’ jobs to make the transition happen.
Jackson now has an accelerated schedule in which students take four 85- to 90-minute classes each day for a semester. Each class is worth the same number of credits as a traditional yearlong class, which means a student can take eight classes in a school year.
With a six-period schedule, students will get half a credit for each semester class and a full credit for a yearlong class.
District officials gave outlines of how the schedule change will affect graduation requirements and student qualifications for college.
During the next three years, the district will pro-rate the number of credits students have earned to align them with the requirements at Everett and Cascade high schools, which use six-period schedules.
The Class of 2008 will be the first to have had a six-period schedule all four years. In the meantime, Jackson counselors will figure out how to get students the classes they need to graduate under the new system.
“If anything, we’ll provide additional staff to make sure no child is negatively impacted as a result of these changes,” Brandsma said.
Some parents said they were happy the district had the meeting and they would try to adjust to the changes, but hoped for more information.
“What I did not see tonight was the research that the decision was based on,” said Ron Pearson, who has two children at Jackson and teaches at Voyager Middle School in the Mukilteo School District.
Steve Ney, a parent whose son is a sophomore at Jackson, supports the change, saying the four-period schedule was a poor use of time. He said the new schedule will allow Jackson to have a more viable advanced-placement program.
“I want my son to go to college,” he said.
Kim Stone, whose son is a junior, said the district should have taken more time in making the decision and the transition.
“In the long run, I understand why they need to do it,” Stone said. “But I’m frustrated with the process they’ve chosen to make it happen. What we got was a survey, and then a letter saying this is the way it’s going to be.”
Victor Balta is a reporter for The Herald in Everett.
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