Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
If approved by the School Board, the change, called four-by-four block scheduling, would allow students to take four classes, each 90 minutes long, each semester. The current schedule has seven periods, each 45 minutes long, that last an entire school year.
``I'm looking forward to a time of change with a new schedule that will enhance education,'' Shelda Wills, an English teacher at Christiansburg High School, said Tuesday night. Both Christiansburg and Shawsville high schools want to implement the block schedule next year; the other two county high schools, Auburn and Blacksburg, will study the plan for another year.
Of the 30 parents, students and teachers who spoke about the block schedule, 26 of them favored the change. Four of them - all members of the same family - spoke against it.
``Blocking is the most exciting change I've seen take place since my kids entered school,'' said parent Vicki Helbling.
Michael Lee, a junior at Christiansburg High, said he supports block scheduling because the plan will give him more flexibility when signing up for classes.
Shawsville High School teacher Joyce Gardner said her daughter, who attends Floyd County High School - which already uses block scheduling - would never want to go back to her previous seven-period schedule.
``Block scheduling has motivated my child,'' Gardner said. ``The only negative thing she could say about it is that she's a senior and she's sorry it wasn't implemented sooner.''
However, one Christiansburg family warned the School Board not to act too soon.
``Your charge isn't to decide if the program is good or bad at this time,'' parent Chuck Nelson. ``Your charge is, `Are we ready?'''
Nelson said no one has been given a chance to speak about the negative aspects of block scheduling, one of which is the program's effects on fine-arts classes. Fine-arts students might not be able to take those classes every semester, he said.
``Twenty-five students have dropped out of the symphonic band'' at Pulaski County High School, which uses block scheduling, said Nelson, whose son has won numerous music awards. ``The quality of their music is reduced.''
Nelson was followed by his wife, Norma, who said she would like to ``give the board something to think about on the other side of the four-by-four issue.''
Norma Nelson quoted the Code of Virginia standards, which state that a teacher must not teach more than five classes without being compensated for that work. Under block scheduling, a teacher may be faced with teaching three classes a semester, totalling six for the year.
Montgomery County Education Association President B.J. Mullins confirmed Nelson's statement. She said the Virginia Education Association supports innovations such as block scheduling - as long as teachers get at least the same amount of planning time they now have.
The Nelsons' children, Erin and Tim, also voiced concerns about the program. Erin Nelson, who attends New River Community College and was once a student at Christiansburg High School, wanted to know how the program would affect students with learning disabilities. Tim Nelson, a student at the high school, appealed to the School Board not to give up the current schedule.
``For the sake of this county, this country and this world,'' said an impassioned Tim Nelson, leave the schedule as it is.
This was the fourth meeting in two weeks on block scheduling, which has been studied for 2 1/2 years.
``You can sit on the edge of the pool as long as you want, but you still won't learn to swim,'' Helbling said. ``This is the thing to do.''
The School Board plans to make its decision April 4.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro Edition.