Parents urge board to pause Park Junior High bell-schedule changes, citing large cuts to math and ELA time

Several parents and educators asked the La Grange SD 102 Board of Education on May 22 to pause implementation of a new Park Junior High bell schedule that they say sharply reduces daily core instructional time and was announced to families with little advance notice.

Speakers during the meeting’s public-comment period said the schedule will reduce daily math and ELA blocks at Park from about 72 minutes to 44 minutes, and that the change will include a daily 44-minute “flex” period and a daily 14-minute advisory. “Acceleration without time is not equity,” said Megan Utney, identifying herself as a D102 parent and a math specialist in District 105.

The new schedule “is a fundamental instructional shift,” Utney said, adding that the change coincides with broad changes to the district’s talent-development models for accelerated programs. Several speakers said they learned details only after late-night emails: “Families … of sixth and seventh graders were notified at just 1 a.m. this morning in an email,” Utney said. Parent Jen Schulte, a special-education resource teacher of 20 years, told the board she first heard of the changes from a rising seventh grader in her carpool lane and said staff sent a message at 12:57 a.m. “This prompted me to reach out to the administration for more information,” Schulte said.

Parents argued the flex period will not serve as meaningful instruction for the majority of students. “Most likely [students] will end up in a large study hall during this 44-minute block, hardly a meaningful instructional experience,” Schulte said. Sean Cass, parent of a freshman at LT and a fifth-grader at Forest Road, said he supports band and music programs but did not understand how adding daytime music “came with a shortened instruction time for English and math.”

Speakers raised several related concerns: that Park will have fewer core instructional minutes than neighboring feeder schools to Lyons Township High School (LT); that students receiving special education services may lose minutes they now receive in more structured settings; and that the bell schedule committee was largely administrators and lacked sufficient parent and teacher input. Jamie Zara, who identified herself as an elected official and a parent, said, “The children with IEPs … do not need another flex period or independent learning. They need instructional learning as their IEP says.”

The public commenters named Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Chris Finch as a leader in the planning process; some speakers said Finch was not present at the meeting but was identified as overseeing schedule development. Several speakers asked the board to “reopen the conversation,” to hold further public and teacher-facing forums, or to return the Park bell schedule to the June board agenda for additional review.

A district staff member responding later in the meeting said a teacher-led committee had worked on implementation details for the flex period and that the district had hired six new science and social-studies teachers to support expanded minutes in those subjects. The staff member said the district would continue adjusting the plan and engage in “continuous improvement,” and acknowledged shortcomings in the timing and clarity of communications to families. “I own the communication,” the staff member said.

Board members did not take a formal vote on the schedule at the meeting. Several trustees and staff discussed follow-up meetings and opportunities for additional parent and teacher engagement before the district implements the change.

Why it matters: Parents and teachers said the schedule reduces core instructional minutes at a pivotal stage (junior high) and that the district’s timeline and outreach did not match prior referendum-era communications that had mobilized community support. The district’s next steps include further committee work and additional communications to families and staff.

The board did not take formal action to reverse or pause implementation during the meeting; parents said they will return and asked the board to place the Park bell schedule back on a future agenda for further review.