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Parents, students urge clearer communication on proposed mandatory study hall at Lebanon High School
Summary
At the March 17 Lebanon City Schools Board of Education meeting, parents and students criticized a proposed shift to a seven-period day with a mandatory study hall, saying communication was limited and the timing risks forcing students to drop band or choir.
Parents and students told the Lebanon City Schools Board of Education on March 17 they oppose a possible shift to a seven-period day at Lebanon High School that would create a single, mandatory study-hall period during the school day.
Sherry Flux, a parent and treasurer with the junior-high choral parents organization, said the proposal has reached families mainly by word of mouth during course scheduling. “I just kinda want the board to be, you know, aware of this, aware of parents' concerns around it,” Flux said, noting students who participate in band, choir and other electives could be forced to choose between classes and activities.
The district has been studying bell-schedule changes for about a year, Superintendent Sievers told the board, and a committee of high school staff visited regional schools and considered multiple options. “There has been 0 communication on behalf of the district,” Sievers said, adding that the principal and staff recently discussed a recommendation and that administrators are now building master schedules to test feasibility.
Sievers said the proposal responds to the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) goals: to provide more built-in time for academic intervention, counselor and therapist meetings, teacher collaboration and common planning time. He told the board the high school currently is the only building in the district operating on an eight-period day and that many neighboring high schools use seven periods with a study hall.
The superintendent offered numbers to show the likely scope of impact: he said about 1,424 students attend the high school and that, this year, roughly 20 students did not take any study hall in the first or second semester. He said the bell schedule committee’s recommendation followed about 11 months of work but that no final decision has been made because the master schedule must show the plan can accommodate student requests.
Students emphasized how the change could affect participation in extracurriculars. Gus Flux, a Lebanon High student, told the board, “This third bell would make me choose between band and choir, two things I am very passionate about doing.” Another commenter, Dan English, a local coach and grandparent, said families and coaches are concerned the change could alter travel and time commitments for extracurricular activities.
Sievers said the district will attempt to accommodate students who have paid nonrefundable fees for after-school activities and provided one example in which marching-band participants would be treated as career-center students so they could still participate despite schedule conflicts. He said schedule feasibility should be clear within about a month as administrators finish building the master schedule.
The board heard the concerns but did not vote on any schedule change at the March 17 meeting. District staff said they will continue testing schedules, communicate results when firm decisions are possible and work to find accommodations for a small number of students if a change is adopted.
