WACO SCHOOL DAY AND WEEK SCHEDULE POLICY

CRITERIA FOR DEVELOPING THE SCHOOL SCHEDULE

Our schedule will:

1. Give all students access to all classes, avoiding conflicting schedules of specialized classes and preventing any exclusion related to cultural background, physical abilities, socio-economic status, and intellectual status. 

2. Provide students with a balanced learning time they need, including technology access to complete writing assignments and other learning activities; to reinforce, extend and/or master grade level standards. 

3. Promote efficiency and effectiveness, including protecting instructional time from bell to bell and adhering to the set schedule.  

4. Allow all teachers equitable planning and time to collaborate on a regular basis. 

 

5. Provide equitable access to effective teachers for all students, including opportunities for teachers to switch assignments to capitalize on in-depth knowledge of specific subjects. 

6. Adhere to district expectations established by the instructional leadership team; balanced programs.

7. Promote reasonable and appropriate enrollments for all classes and appropriate numbers of pupils each teacher works with in the course of a day, according to district formulas. 

8. Respect the beginning and ending times of the school day and school calendar year as established by the Board of Education.

 

PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING THE SCHOOL SCHEDULE

Annually, the principal, with input from leadership members and help if necessary from designees, will develop a master schedule for the school day that includes any identified or needed changes. The following procedures will be used:

1. Review student performance data, survey data (if available) from students, parents, and staff, and other input from staff on how well instructional time is being used and what changes (if any) are needed. 

• Brainstorm current time barriers to implementing needed changes and meeting student needs and ways the schedule might be changed to remove those barriers.

• Discuss advantages and disadvantages of various changes, focusing on the criteria listed in the first section of this policy.

 

2. Consider pertinent data from programs outside the regular classroom: Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), Health & PR, Vocational Studies, Primary (K-3), and Writing to determine changes needed or extra time needed in these areas. 

3. Based on the above work, those involved will consult with the principal and make recommendations concerning schedule changes for the coming year no later than the end of February. 

4. By the 1st of May, the principal (and/or designees) will prepare a schedule for the coming school year, including changes (if any), and notify the staff. 

5. No later than July 30th, the principal will report as a FYI item to the council on the schedule for the coming school year. 

 

POLICY EVALUATION

We will evaluate the effectiveness of this policy through our school improvement planning process.

 

Date Adopted:  March 21, 2024

 

2nd read and tabled for discussion: February 15, 2024 

 

Date(s) Reviewed January 25, 2024

 

NOTES ON USING THIS POLICY