Written By: Holly Pulley, Staff Writer
UNPOPULAR: Teachers and students have differing opinions on the new bell schedule.
After the recent uprising in violence and shooting threats plagued the Poly High campus, the administration implemented a new bell schedule that not only lengthened certain classes but added a second lunch period. While many teachers around campus have commented that the new schedule allows staff members to monitor students on a closer level, students have voiced their concerns and disappointments loudly.
One problem that many have with the new schedule is that it does not account for club time during lunch. While many clubs, like the photography club, meet during the lunch period, the double lunches do not allow all members to meet in person and collaborate during school time. Anya Ivy-Curwen (12) says that the exclusion of lunch meetings creates a difficulty for clubs that is just unreasonable. “Clubs are now basically non-existent,” she asserted. “They can’t effectively meet during enrichment because students have places to be during that time, and after-school meetings are inconvenient for people who have extracurricular activities.” This is a great point. Students who choose to visit their club during enrichment can only do so if they don’t need tutoring (which is the main objective of the enhancement periods), or just choose not to get the help they need, which obstructs learning. Heejae Yoon (11) states that lunchtime has become uncomfortable for her because she doesn’t have as many friends to sit with, and feels left out of her group compared to before. “It’s hard not to see my friends, and my clubs have been compromised as well. It just feels unfair to do this near the end of the year.”
Some students feel that this new schedule takes attention away from other issues. Ariel Wright (11) shared that she feels the new cautionary procedures “[mess] up [her] learning by implementing discipline-oriented security instead of holding every student to the same standards.” By the school choosing to emphasize some problems over others and making those problems the center of attention the rest of the year, it takes away the severity of other issues disturbing the peace on our campus, like the constant smoking in the bathrooms. Not only does that set off alarms, but it also makes the public bathrooms reek. Ariel raises a great point that some problems also need to be monitored on a closer level, and taken as seriously as others.
Circling back to extracurricular activities, some students are depended on by their parents to help them take care of their siblings, which includes getting them home from school. Valeria Moreno (12) expressed that because of the schedule changes, her parents have had to work out certain compromises with her younger siblings’ schools to allow Valeria to pick the kids up a little later. “It’s a little stressful some days,” Valeria says, “and I know my mom is a little irritated with the changes, but she knows it’s not my fault.” For some students, life is not just school and home. It’s family, clubs, and friends that can’t be reached when given the free time to do so. The new bell schedule has some perks, but lots of downsides, and should be heavily questioned when the proposition comes for it to return next year. What do you think about the new bell schedule? – Click here to let us know (could be printed in Spotlight).