REMOVAL: Poly High School begins the process of removing zero periods in preparation for next year.
By Cameron Brewer and Celeste Johanson, Staff Writers
According to Poly High School counselors, the current list of available zero periods will become extremely limited next year. Many teachers will lose their zero period classes, including but not limited to: Mrs. Yeyna’s British Literature, Mr. Booth’s AP Government and Economics, and Mrs. Dubuisson’s AP U.S. History. This could partially be due to the projected drop in enrollment in the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD). This also caused the minimum class size to increase to 30 students. Certain classes in fifth and sixth periods are well under this minimum, which is due to the wide variety of zero periods offered here. The zero periods are being removed only to ensure that no teachers or classes are cut or transferred away from Poly.
According to Poly Assistant Principal Michael Gull, the district attempts to build classes with a 30 student minimum as a way to base their staffing and salaries. However, the teachers that have fifth and sixth periods do not have the ideal class size the district is requesting. Poly counselor Patricia Miller addressed one of the main reasons why these periods generally have a small class size. “The majority of those students in zero period are there because they want to leave after fourth period. They want to leave at lunch and that’s exactly what we are trying to prevent by saving jobs for teachers, is keeping students here for fifth and sixth period so those classes are full,” Miller said. “We know we are trying to fill up as many classes as we can, therefore the classes have to stay full throughout the entire day,” Miller said.
If all of the zero periods that were offered now were offered again next year, five teachers could have been cut and forced to search for a new job. “Teachers could be getting cut if we didn’t have full classes, but that’s one of the reasons why we eliminated zero periods so that we wouldn’t cut any teachers. We want every teacher that’s already here next year, if possible to remain here,” Miller says.
“It’s better to have less kids. You are more connected to the teacher if there are less students. I feel like they can help you better if they know you and it’s easier to ask for help if you are close to the teacher,” Alexander Pedraza (12) said.
Adam Anderson (10) takes a zero period and leaves right after fifth period. However, he is not worried about how the lack of zero periods will affect him. “I get here an hour early anyway, and the zero period just helped to pass the time. I am not worried about having to stay for sixth period, it will work itself out,” he said
Many of the zero period classes that are being removed are being offered online at Riverside Virtual School (RVS). Either way, there are options to catch up on classes that are not limited to zero periods. “We are not going to sacrifice a student’s A-Gs or a student’s graduation because we don’t have classes for them. We’ll figure out a way,” Miller said. Although zero periods may be ultimately lost, all of the classes will be available, one way or another.