School will add period to day

The school district, by action of the school board, will return to a seven-period day this fall.

The district has had a six-period day for the past several years and a change to the seven-period day will allow students to receive a wider range of class options.

The board had decided earlier to return to the seven-period day and a 24-credit requirement at the high school for graduation, but had an opportunity to delay it a year since the district would be moving into a new school.

The board heard arguments that there would be enough adjustments in the new building and teachers didn’t need additional problems. A case was made for a delay.

However, others agreed that it was wiser to make all the adjustments right away and make the change to seven periods.

The school board listened to both opinions and then quickly decided to move forward to the seven-period day.

The decision to move forward had been made after 2013 legislative action that required 1,080 teacher-student contact hours at grades 9-12 and implementation of the 24-credit graduation requirement.

Then districts got a one-year reprieve with the new target date set for the 2015-16 school year.

The board decided to stick with its earlier plan and initiate the change this fall.