The School Board of Central is looking to cut down on the number of credits that students take, eventually cutting down to 6 classes and eliminating our block schedule. There are innumerable ways this act would negatively affect our teachers and student body, based on the unique circumstances and community of Central Unified.

The Teacher’s Union has already come up with a compromise to appease both the board and the rest of the student body, by shifting to a seven-block schedule, but the board refuses to hear them out. They insist on going through with this act in the midst of the pandemic, the establishment of a new high school, boundary changes, and online learning. When making such a monumental change, we should be prudent and engage in further discussion instead of making a decision this Tuesday, October 27. 

The board claims that it will decrease dropout rates, help transfers, and save school funds; however, this will come at a cost. 

For one, the Transportation Department has not guaranteed that they will provide buses to students who want to enroll in the newly added zero and seventh periods. Many students will be required to enroll in these extra blocks in order to gain the necessary credits to qualify for colleges like the UCs

Secondly, enrollment in these new class periods would interfere with students’ ability to participate in the arts, athletics, and extracurriculars. For example, students choosing to enroll in zero period would not be able to participate in sports morning practices, and students enrolled in seventh period would miss after-school practices. 

Third, this new policy caters to a small population of transfers and potential dropouts, while harming the ability of the majority of students to engage fully in the academic and extracurricular opportunities Central has to offer.

For these reasons, among others, this act is in direct opposition to Central’s vision statement, which emphasizes a focus on college and career readiness. With this cut, students will neither have enough credits to be competitive for colleges, nor be able to explore careers or extracurricular activities. 

It is also important to note that over 50% of schools in the US have adopted or are strongly considering adopting block scheduling. If we are to model off of the decisions of other schools, we should do so by looking at the majority, not the schools in our immediate vicinity.

If the act goes through, it will irrevocably damage our academic and extracurricular programs, and fail to fulfill the district’s obligations to our students.

Academic involvement, rigor, and college readiness will decrease.

• The class cut would require zero period, seventh period, and/or summer school classes for students interested in athletics, arts, ROP, or Advanced Placements courses.
• According to the Transportation Department, busing will likely not be available for students who elect to, or are required to, take these extra classes.
• The social science department would see near fatal cuts to essential classes.
• 20 Central High School teachers would be fired immediately.
  The amount of credits that Central is planning to offer is underneath the minimum requirements for UC and CSU, and the bare minimum for other subjects.
• Decreasing the number of classes that students can take would require anyone serious about college to take classes before school begins, after it ends, and/or during summer. 
  • This could ultimately decrease the number of students who end up going to college after graduation.

Students will have fewer opportunities, and extracurricular programs will shrink.

It would be extremely hard, if not impossible, to be involved in any but one track. 

• For example, one could not be a music and AP student, for lack of classes.
• Due to the lack of options, programs that we have worked hard to build would shrink for lack of student participation including, but not limited to: 
  • Athletics, theatre, band, FFA, Folklorico, dance, ROP
• Taking zero or seventh period would prevent students from participating in sports practices before and after school.
• The lack of an even-odd day schedule would make grades much harder to keep up, especially for those who do extracurriculars.
• The curriculum would be less well-rounded and fail to educate students properly.

By eliminating electives for students to explore, the district would fail to prepare students for graduation by not offering opportunities for insight into their personal interests.

• It is any school’s civic responsibility to prepare well-informed citizens (per the College, Career, and Civic Framework) and cutting social science classes, such as world geography, while trimming government and economy does just the opposite.
• Central boasts its ability to give students a well-rounded education, however, cutting classes would result in an even less well-rounded curriculum, not even achieving the bare minimum that most colleges require.

This is a bureaucratic initiative that affects the lives of thousands, from teachers getting fired, to students being left unprepared. Before acting so hastily, the school board must stop to consider the damage they will do. 

We, the undersigned, urge the board members to vote no on this item until the administration can formally propose an improved plan that adequately meets the needs of our community.