Random Lake board hears plan to shift high school to seven-class semester with regular 'drop' days

District staff presented a proposed bell schedule intended to increase instructional continuity and create daily planning time for teachers.

Susan (staff lead) and members of the building leadership team outlined a plan in which students take seven semester classes and the schedule rotates so one or two courses are dropped each day (for example: on Monday period seven is dropped; on other days different periods are omitted). Under the proposal each class would meet four days a week and receive about 4,320 instructional minutes per semester, which presenters said compares favorably to current block/skinny configurations.

The presenters said the change would also split targeted support (AR) time with lunch to allow smaller groups for remediation, create daily prep/PLC time for teachers, and build in regular "ramway" periods to address school culture and social-emotional learning. They described staff and student input gathered by the BLT and recommended a three-year pilot so the district can gather objective measures: course pass rates, D/F counts, assessment results, missing-assignment rates and behavioral referrals.

Board members pressed on details: how dual-enrollment and AP courses would fit the rotation; which credits would be adjusted if required credit totals change (staff said state-required English and math would not be reduced and electives would be the area of adjustment); how dropped days and holiday weeks would be balanced across semesters; and whether staff voting produced a clear consensus (presenters reported broad input and a staff vote that supported the chosen option). Presenters said dual-enrollment classes would be scheduled into open blocks and that balance across semesters would be built into the calendar so no course is consistently shorted.

The board discussed implementation: staff committed to tracking the stated performance metrics and returning to the board after one year for an update. No final vote on schedule adoption occurred; presenters asked the board to review more details over the summer before action.