From overlapping classes and forced zero periods to packed rooms and teacher overage, this year has presented numerous scheduling-related issues. While this is an easy reason to fault the administration, it should be considered that there is no perfect solution to give every student a complete schedule of their choice. With the official IHS Program of Studies boasting one hundred and fifty different courses, it is understandable that not all of them are running, and especially not in multiple sections. However, the scheduling problems this school year are so pervasive and destructive that it is clear that this is a serious issue and action must be taken. The Tattler Editorial Board believes that, although no system can be perfect, IHS and ICSD as a whole can combat scheduling conflicts by hiring and retaining more teachers, having a greater consideration of the difficulty of zero periods, and communicating more effectively with students and within the district. In order to illustrate the magnitude of this issue, The Tattler randomly surveyed sixty IHS students, fifteen from each grade, on conflicts in their schedules. Scheduling conflicts were described as problems that require a student to drop or switch out a class. The results are documented below.
The most striking figure in this data is that 73.3 percent of students self-report at least one issue this year, an astronomically high proportion. The Tattler later interviewed lead guidance counselors Charmine Warriner and Bennet Wilson, who confirmed this proportion was at minimum this high and at maximum up to 80-87%. For reference, The Jet Jotter, a student newspaper in Massachusetts, wrote an article about the dangers of their figure: 15 percent. The fact that the affected students are the substantial majority is deeply concerning and indicates that scheduling is significantly affecting students.
Ninth graders reported only around 45 percent as many conflicts compared to the rest of the respondents. Because almost all freshmen are scheduled to take English 9, Algebra 1 or Geometry, Global History 1, Physical Education, and Earth Science or Biology, the administration can have these run at different times and reduce scheduling issues for freshmen significantly. However, sophomores’ and especially upperclassmen’s schedules are much more diverse, so they are significantly harder to account for. In general, non-core classes such as those in music, the arts, and APs are a challenge and end up with too many or too few members. While it has been argued that scheduling conflicts mostly affect over-achievers, respondents who did not describe themselves as such on the survey still reported seventy-five percent as many conflicts as those who did not. Scheduling issues affect all IHS students.
Although improvements to the core system are very difficult, there were several avoidable issues this year. Many upperclassmen signed up to take AP English Literature, expecting that the seven or fewer classes they signed up for would fit within the school day. A significant proportion of these students were shocked to see their schedules included a zero period AP Literature class and a free period. The administration’s algorithm was hoping to place these students in the other AP Literature section that runs sixth period as well, but many other AP classes were chosen to run during sixth period as well, including one of the two AP Chemistry sections, the only AP Physics 1, AP Human
Geography, and AP Calculus BC classes, presenting a scheduling nightmare. Some language, arts, and music classes had the same issue. These students found out only a week or two before the start of school that they not only needed to wake up but also find transportation to school for an hour earlier than expected, something that not all students have access to. This can be a serious issue and likely contributed to many students’ decisions to drop their zero period classes.
In the 2021-2022 school year, there were three AP Calculus BC sections. This year, there’s one. The class of thirty-two struggles to fit in the room, and because enough of the newer triangular desks physically could not fit, the older rectangular desks are used instead. The fact that the existing solution places thirty-two students in a single classroom should already be enough to justify a second class, but note that many more would have been able to take the class if it were running more than once. “It literally makes it harder for me to get around the room and harder for students to get my attention,” says Frederick Deppe, the sole teacher of the course. While he “generally feels like ‘the more [students] the merrier’…there are limits to that,” and many teachers and classes may not fare quite as well.
The Tattler recognizes that ICSD’s pervasive issue of staff shortages is not just in the short term; it is directly related to the way that low pay and overage can force staff out of the district. According to Adam Piasecki, president of the Ithaca Teachers Association, sixty-seven teachers voluntarily resigned between July 2021 and August 2022. This high teacher turnover rate puts pressure on the rest of the staff. A lack of teachers and staff in education in general is a nation-wide issue. However, ICSD could still improve the situation and reduce the impact of periods of understaffing with higher pay and by hiring a surplus of teachers to fill gaps.
ICSD could also improve the scheduling situation by communicating to students and teachers about scheduling shortcomings more effectively. This year, many students had to rush to fix their schedules during the first week of school because they only found out about scheduling issues shortly before school started. Some were contacted as early as early August, which just goes to show how communication could have been better for the majority of students who weren’t. The team of guidance counselors is hardly to blame—it is made up of just six people trying to repair schedules for 1400 students. Communication can improve if their summer scheduling grind is made shorter or to start earlier, which could be done with improved automation, a reduction in the core issue, or by simply having counselors.
While effective communication is important to mitigate damage, it is merely a temporary solution and addressing the root problem remains necessary. Although scheduling conflicts are a troublesome issue, IHS is certainly faring worse than it could. ICSD needs to make these changes to allow more students to personalize their schedules. After all, isn’t a transition to independence and specialization really what high school is all about?