Possible Schedule Change at Hueneme High Protested

Five years ago, Hueneme High School charted a new course in education, becoming the first school in the county to offer students a college-style schedule of three or four 90-minute classes a day.

But while other high schools such as Newbury Park and Santa Paula are following that lead, students, parents and teachers at Hueneme are protesting this week because trustees are turning the ship around.

“My son is getting straight A’s,” Sandra Matel, mother of a sophomore at Hueneme High School, said Wednesday evening at a community meeting called after students and parents were told the Oxnard Union High School board is considering a return to a more traditional schedule for the school.

“I had two other sons who went through this school when it was on the traditional schedule and neither of them graduated,” Matel said. “They lost interest.”

Two weeks ago, the board asked district staff to look into changing the block format back into a daily schedule of six 45-minute classes, a move they say will allow students to take more subjects and make it easier for youngsters who are transferring in and out of the school.

The board is scheduled to vote on the issue in the future, Studt said, but a date has not yet been set.

Newbury Park High adopted the block schedule in 1993, and Santa Paula High plans to convert in the fall.

Although Newbury Park officials praise the program, the superintendent of the Oxnard Union High School District said he has not seen notable improvements in Hueneme students’ performance.

“Academic achievement has been flat,” district Supt. William Studt said Thursday. “It hasn’t gone up and it hasn’t gone down.”

Trustee Fred Judy agreed. “The progress is not such that we could vote in the (block) schedule for another year,” Judy said Thursday.

The 200 students and parents who packed the community meeting at the school Wednesday night said taking fewer classes is actually allowing them to learn more.

“You have time to really learn and the teacher has time to explain,” said junior Jill Fletcher. “You can talk about the problems you’re working on and ask more questions. On a regular schedule, you can only ask half the questions.”

Some students also were upset that those juniors who have taken only three classes each semester might not have enough credits to graduate under the new system.

“I don’t want to spend a fifth year in high school,” junior Shanna Deadridge said. “But next year I’m not going to be able to graduate. It’s either that, go to summer school or drop out.”

Hueneme Principal Joanne Black said counselors would work with the students.

Equally angry about the change are teachers who blame the district for failing to notify them until after they tentatively decided to change the schedule.

“With 90 minutes we can do more creative activities in class,” said bilingual education teacher Lupe Murillo. “We get to know the kids a lot better and have time to really delve into the materials. We don’t just collect the homework, assign new lessons and wave goodby.”

Studt, who has been meeting with a group of teachers to discuss options, said the change to a six-period schedule stands unless they come up with some innovative changes.

“I’m not negative about the expanded number of minutes in each period,” Studt said. “There are lots of classes where that’s helpful, like shop classes and lab classes, and many of the teachers like having more class time.”

What concerns Studt and Black is the continuity of instruction. Under the program, 18 weeks of classes are compressed into nine weeks. Often, students take two quarters of English or algebra in the fall and then do not take math or English classes again until the following year.

Studt said the board and Black have been examining the program since the beginning of the school year.

“There are many concerns about academic time,” Black said. “The students who take an additional fourth class benefit a great deal. But the students who only take three subjects, and there are many of them, are out of school at 12:30. With a six-period schedule, everyone will have the same amount of classes.”

Black said she would consider a flexible schedule, where students attend 90-minute courses during certain portions of the week.

The core group of teachers plans to present its suggestions to the board at its meeting Wednesday, but in the meantime, Black is planning for a new six-class semester system.

“We’ll be sitting down and talking to the staff about the changes,” Black said. “I’m envisioning what we’ll end up with is the best of both worlds.”

But many students said they already have that, with a schedule that gives them an extended class to understand complicated subjects while allowing more time for extracurricular activities and after-school jobs.

Meanwhile, students announced that they are planning a peaceful demonstration and march from the high school to the board meeting April 26.