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Due to concerns regarding the efficiency of the current bell schedule, school-based management (SBM) has proposed a schedule change that students can vote on until Friday, Dec. 17, 3:37 p.m. that would eliminate breakfast-in-the-classroom (BIC) and shorten the regular day schedule by five minutes and add five minutes to the minimum day schedule.
The non-binding survey is on ASB’s Schoology page. If voted on, the new bell schedule will take effect next semester.
BIC in the current schedule is after second period from 10:28 a.m. to 10:44 a.m. on regular days and 10:08 a.m. to 10:19 a.m. on shortened days. Contrary to the name, students are not allowed to eat in classrooms as a covid-19 precaution. Instead, students watch the morning announcements, and those who do want breakfast from the school pick it up in the mornings before school from any of the carts found throughout the campus.
The proposed BIC-eliminated schedule would remove this allotted time after second period and instead add one minute to each period on regular days and an additional five minutes to period two for morning announcements. School will end five minutes earlier than the current schedule at 3:32 p.m.
Two minutes will be added to each class on the shortened day schedule, with an extra four minutes to period 2 for morning announcements. School will end five minutes later at 2:37 p.m.
Four minutes will be added to each class on the minimum day schedule which is for finals and graduation. School will end twenty minutes later than the current schedule at 1:41 p.m.
The extra minutes added to classes are done in order to satisfy the required minimum of 65,300 instructional minutes set by LAUSD.
According to UTLA Representative Mr. Christopher May, the change was proposed because breakfast is already being served before school, declaring BIC purposeless.
“What you end up having is a rather long period two,” Mr. May said. “Some teachers were using those 16 minutes for instructional time and some teachers were using it just to have the students sit in class doing nothing.”
The school aims to take the additional 16 minutes and redistribute them throughout the bell schedule in order to lessen the disproportionate amount of time being spent in second period.
“I think it’s more practical,” Mr. May said. “We won’t have an essentially expanded second period where minutes are being wasted. Those wasted minutes will be distributed through the school day and therefore used more effectively.”
Ms. Amira Saunders, who made the BIC-eliminated schedule, feels that the change isn’t drastic enough to weigh its pros and cons.
“It’s really a matter of preference in whether students like having BIC or not,” she said. “It’s whether they prefer hanging out in class or getting out earlier to make the day a little shorter.”
Students, such as junior Gwendolyn Singer, don’t see a reason to make changes if there won’t be much of an impact on the schedule. Moreover, she sees BIC as a valuable time for relaxation or preparation for other classes.
“I’m against the change because it really doesn’t make any sense,” they said. “BIC is a really good time for kids to get ready for their next classes and have a quiet break. I don’t see the point in eliminating that 16-minute break every day just to get out a few minutes earlier.”
Similarly, junior Janelle Castro is opposed to the prospect of the new bell schedule. For her, BIC provides her another opportunity to unwind, even if that opportunity lasts only 16 minutes.
“One break is not enough,” Castro said. “I can barely catch a break throughout the day. Getting rid of BIC is just unnecessary. Plus, I doubt adding five more minutes to a period just to have morning announcements makes a large difference.”
On the other hand, sophomore Jalen Bautista finds merit in the schedule, as he’d be able to leave school earlier and BIC was rather trivial to him.
“I’m so for it,” he said. “I love getting home early. We never eat breakfast in my classroom during BIC anyway.”
Some students are all for the elimination of BIC, but hope the school could extend the length of nutrition by implementing BIC into it for the sake of students who run late to school. Junior Marcela Aguirre Aguilar is one of these students.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Aguilar said. “But if anything, they should add BIC onto nutrition since we can’t eat inside the classrooms. Sometimes students can’t come to school early for breakfast.”
The decision of the bell schedule lies in the hands of students’ votes.
