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Board hears interim bell-schedule change for 2025–26 as committee continues work on 30‑minute lunch plan
Summary
Superintendent Tice and counselors outlined a one‑year bell schedule change intended to meet state minute requirements and create three staggered lunch periods next year while the district plans a permanent 30‑minute lunch restructure for 2026–27.
FAYETTEVILLE — The Fayetteville‑Manlius Board on Wednesday reviewed a one‑year bell‑schedule adjustment for 2025–26 and heard that a more substantial change, including 30‑minute lunches, remains planned for 2026–27.
Superintendent Tice said the proposed interim schedule shortens passing time in many transitions and replaces the single 20‑minute “wellness” block with three shorter lunch windows so students can obtain food and return to class. He said the one‑year move is intended to address compliance with state instructional‑minutes requirements and to provide time for the district’s larger redesign, which will create 30‑minute lunch periods in 2026–27.
Director of Counseling Heidi Green and representatives of staff and the teachers’ association described operational details and concerns. Green said schedule building is technically complex: the high school has roughly 200 course sections and about 15,000 course requests to reconcile. She said the district has a test file for the new schedule and will run trial builds; some schedule construction steps will be done manually because existing scheduling software cannot resolve all constraints.
Teachers’ association representatives and some trustees raised concerns about supervision and equity. One union speaker, citing the original purpose of the 20‑minute block as a pandemic‑era mask break, said the 20 minutes had become an added supervisory duty for teachers with fifth‑period classes and created contract complexities. Board members asked whether shifting to three staggered, shorter breaks would increase the number of unsupervised windows and how the district will ensure students can get food and return to class on time. Presenters said snack‑shack and pre‑order options exist and that improved cafeteria layout and additional food stations aim to reduce queueing.
Tice said the district will notify parents and staff about the interim change and will add parents and students to the school‑start‑time committee for the fall. He also emphasized the district’s earlier waiver to the state on instructional minutes will expire this September; he said correcting minutes before that date is part of the urgency.
No Board vote was taken on the interim schedule at the meeting. Staff said they will run additional scheduling tests, continue summer outreach, and present finalized options and a community engagement timeline in the fall.
