When Lee County high school students return to class in the fall they will have seven-period days instead of a block schedule, a change intended to address learning loss and the shortage of teachers.

“This is a very big shift. This is not a common issue. This is not something we like to do. It is hard to have to come and bring this type of message to our students knowing they are having to sacrifice a course. At the same time we have to make tough decisions when we are faced with shortages,” said School District of Lee County Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage during a press conference last week.

Parents of high school students are beginning to be notified that at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, the School District of Lee County will switch from a 4×4 block schedule to a seven-day period providing more depth with the classes they have.

The seven periods will be 46 minutes long, besides fifth period, which includes lunch. First period will be from 7:05 to 7:51 a.m., second period from 7:56 to 8:42 a.m., third period from 8:47 to 9:33 a.m., fourth period from 9:38 to 10:24 a.m., fifth period from 10:29 to 11:53 a.m., sixth period from 11:58 a.m. to 12:44 p.m. and seventh period from 12:49 to 1:35 p.m.

Elective choices will still be available for students. IB students will have the opportunity to take one or two electives a year and IB and arts students can earn both diplomas. In addition, AICE students can take one to three electives a year.

There will be no impact on dual enrollment students and limited impact to the high school’s career academies.

The current block schedule has over time become less efficient and most expensive, Savage said. A seven-period schedule is something the district can sustain.

“There are two main reasons for this change. First it is to address the learning loss we have seen because of COVID. Seven periods, students will gain an additional 720 minutes of instruction in each class. This will equal an additional 15 days of instruction,” Savage said.

Students will lose one class with the new schedule, which he said is a major issue for him, but the trade off is students will get much more time with their teachers.

The last two years there has been a substantial loss in learning. The additional minutes and days of instruction will allow students to see their teacher every day, which Savage said is powerful. Currently, students see their teachers every other day.

“They miss one core section, it is equivalent to missing two days,” Savage said. “They can never really make that time back up. We have tremendous absenteeism as well.”

The second reason tackles the shortage of teachers.

“The second reason is the current shortage of teachers, not just here in Lee County, but around the country. With this adjustment, it will need 140 fewer teaching positions next year as a result to switching to a seven-period instruction. This will return millions of dollars to our general fund that will help us with some of our other organizational priorities,” Savage said.

The district experiences additional loss of employees due to retirement, as well as other transitions every year. Savage said they certainly anticipate more need over the summer.

The savings the district anticipates will help in increasing compensation for employees — teachers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and guest teachers. Savage said with the current shortage, the employees who have remained have had to pick up so many additional responsibilities.

“Even more important than recruiting new employees, is retaining our existing workforce,” Savage said. “This change in the schedule will play a significant role in that effort.”

He said there has not necessarily been time to take the schedule change to the community and say “do you want to go into this method.”

“The numbers we want you to think about is the 140 teacher positions it can save in estimates around $10 million. That is not something I take lightly,” Savage said.

The topic of planning periods was also discussed Wednesday morning. Savage said high schools receive an equitable amount of planning when compared to elementary and middle school.

“This shift puts our high school teachers in the same line of planning as all of our other levels,” he said. “The additional thing is right now, with the teacher shortage, many of the teachers who have planning don’t get to have that planning. They get to cover additional classes, whether as a substitute, whether permanently picking up additional core sections. In theory, they get to have planning every day in great amounts, but in reality many don’t get to have that. This helps alleviate that shortage and that does make the high school schedule just as equitable as the other schedules.”

When the decision was being made, he said they met with numerous advisory groups.

“This is a managerial decision foremost because it is in our current contract. We have to prepare this year’s budget. We have to do a lot of work right now and our high schools have to build their master schedules right now. This is the work they have to do,” he said.

Chief Academic Officer Dr. Jeff Spiro said there is a school board briefing on Tuesday, March 8, to discuss the schedule. In addition, he said the district will be sending messages directly to the students.

“We are going to have a student-friendly video that will be in student language and will also have some students in the video talking about what does this mean for a student, as we transition to a seven- period day,” he said. “If families still have questions we actually have an email link, highschoolschedule@leeschools.net, where they can email their questions and get a response back.”