Students will have eight longer classes next year.
By: Lea Kahn
Lawrence High School students will lose one class period next year but each of the remaining eight periods will be five minutes longer, the Lawrence Township Board of Education learned last week.
LHS operates under a nine-period-a-day schedule. The decision to reduce the number of periods for the 2005-06 school year is tied to concerns that the addition across the Princeton Pike facade which includes science classrooms may not be finished by the time school opens in September.
Meanwhile, the LHS Parent-Teacher Organization plans to hold a special meeting Feb. 23 for parents to learn more about the eight-period day. The 7 p.m. meeting will be held in the LHS library.
At the school board’s Feb. 9 meeting, LHS Principal Donald Proffit and Assistant Principal David Milinowicz assured the board that the change is temporary. They also said that science lab periods are not being eliminated a concern that has been raised by some students.
What is being eliminated, however, are the double-period science labs for Advanced Placement science courses. Administrators are reviewing options to ensure that students have enough time to complete those labs, Mr. Milinowicz said. About 60 to 70 students would be affected.
Mr. Milinowicz said there is a need to make provisions for seven classrooms, if the addition is not finished by September. Four of the seven affected classrooms have sinks, which are essential for students taking home economics and art classes in those rooms.
Eliminating the double-period science labs making them one period instead of two periods would free up the science lab classrooms for use by home economics classes and art classes, Mr. Milinowicz said. The science labs are not in use all day long, he added.
In fairness to the students who are taking science labs, Mr. Milinowicz said, the plan is to eliminate 9th period and add five minutes per period to the remaining eight periods. This would allow students a few more minutes to complete science lab lessons, in lieu of double-period labs.
Although school officials won’t know how many classrooms are needed until students sign up for courses, Mr. Milinowicz said provisions could be made to use the library conference room as a classroom. The TV studio could be reconfigured for classroom space, he said, adding that discussions have been held with Lawrence Middle School Principal Nancy Pitcher regarding use of some classrooms at that school.
However, LHS junior class vice president Tom Guarrieri told the school board that many AP physics students are concerned about the elimination of the extra lab period. Some students have said that some labs require three hours to complete and those labs are critical for the students in order to score well on the AP exams, he said.
Students enrolled in the Mercer County Vocational-Technical School also would be affected, Tom said. The students, who divide their school day between the vo-tech school and the high school, would not have enough time to take elective courses at LHS, he said.
"Apart from the vo-tech and AP students, other pupils will also be affected in sweeping measures," Tom said. "With the tight state requirements for practical and fine arts electives, certain students will face a myriad of difficulties in the eight-period schedule. Certain students, like myself, were relying on having all nine periods to use for academic electives that better their learning.
"Some students I know need all nine periods to gain enough credits to graduate," Tom said. "Without all nine periods, options such as summer school, skipping lunch, night school and online courses become the only choices to graduate. This is not fair to a student who planned his future senior schedule as a freshman in confidence that there would be nine periods."
But other students were not as concerned.
Justin Freedman, sophomore class president, told the school board that he declined to sign a petition objecting to the eight-period day until he learned more about the issues. He said that the explanation offered by Mr. Proffit and Mr. Milinowicz answered his questions. He noted that none of his classmates who had expressed concern about the issue took the time to attend the school board meeting.