Over the summer the district and teachers voted to change the school schedule in an effort to give teachers more time.

The student’s school day was made shorter by ten to 15 minutes, and the teacher’s day was extended by ten minutes.

For example, the high school student’s school day starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 2:10 p.m.; whereas, last year students began their day at the same time, 7:30 a.m., but then they remained until 2:36 p.m.

In addition, the teachers now have a mandatory clock-out time of 2:55 instead of 2:45 p.m.

Changing the schedule for teachers to have more time was a number one priority of Superintendent Dr. Nathan Van Deusen.

“I see value in that preparation time,” said Van Deusen.

Each fall Van Deusen takes the time to meet with the teachers and one of the main things he took away from his 2019 meetings was that teachers do not feel they have enough collaboration and preparation time.

“So what we essentially did was to create this prep time where teachers would have like 35 minutes each day where they could work with their colleagues and prepare for the next day,” said Van Deusen.

The district wanted more time for teachers to work with each other. They are often separated, which makes it hard to communicate. This time allows for innovation, collaboration, and new ideas.

“The teachers did want to discuss a schedule change. With the substitute shortage and amount of work related to teaching students on multiple platforms we hoped to have some time to work with admin, guidance, and other teachers when students were not in the building,” said Union President Richard Meinl.

The district and the union made this decision over the past eight months of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations.

“The CBA is a document that establishes all the working conditions of teachers/staff. It sets our work day along with other items related to our jobs, including salary and benefits. This was one of the items we sought to find compromise on,” said Meinl.

Other than the teachers having more preparation time there were also many other benefits.

“The compromised change you see in the schedule provides for time. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays this time is used by teachers to collaborate with other teachers, prepare lessons, and other clerical duties related to our professions.

On Wednesday this time is for administrative meetings. During these meetings we learn new strategies, review important changes at the state and federal levels, and/or work with colleagues on tasks related to curriculum or the betterment of the school,” explained Meinl.

Although the schedule was a success there were a few minor setbacks on the first day the schedule was implemented, such as bus drivers and maintaining tight schedules. But, that was remedied by day two.

Overall, teachers and administration are pleased with the agreement.

“I think teachers appreciate the additional time. Many are able to have a better work-life balance by taking less school work home,” said Meinl.