Council Rock education committee launches high-school schedule review, plans district survey

Albert Funk, director of secondary education for the Council Rock School District, told the education committee on April 30 that an exploratory committee is reviewing whether the current high‑school schedule best serves students. “The primary objective of the committee is to examine whether the current high school schedule most effectively serves the needs of our most important stakeholder, the students,” Funk said.

Jason Truskiewicz, principal of Council Rock High School North, described the district’s current model: six periods per day of about 56 minutes, a day‑1/day‑2 rotation, and a school day that begins at 7:33 a.m. and ends at 2:15 p.m. Truskiewicz noted students have opportunities to earn up to 24 credits across four years and may take half‑day programs at Middle Bucks Institute of Technology as part of that pathway.

Justine McEachern, assistant principal at Council Rock High School South, told the committee the group visited other districts and found no single “perfect” schedule; instead, the committee is weighing trade‑offs such as class length, number of courses, time for intervention or enrichment, and staff collaboration. “There isn’t one right or wrong approach,” McEachern said.

Committee members said the district prepared a short video explaining scheduling considerations and will publish a survey linked via QR code. Staff said the survey is targeted at current high‑school students, high‑school staff and parents, and is scheduled to be available in mid‑May and remain open through the end of the school year on June 18. Funk said the committee may later use focused, professionally assisted surveys if the process yields preliminary recommendations.

Board members asked the committee to provide succinct background material alongside the video so respondents have context before completing the survey. Several trustees also suggested creating a web hub on each high school’s site, and exploring outreach to alumni and representative student groups to broaden participation. Staff said they will consider authentication and duplicate‑submission controls (email/IP filtering) and noted the initial in‑house survey will include demographic drop‑downs to identify respondent type (student, parent, teacher).

The committee emphasized there is no presumption that a schedule change must follow; the exploratory committee could recommend the status quo after reviewing feedback and analysis. The district plans to analyze the survey over the summer and report findings to the education committee in subsequent meetings.