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Davenport schools to shift high school schedule to 45‑minute periods with two‑year phased rollout
Summary
After months of study and public comment, the Davenport Community School District board heard final plans to move from 90‑minute blocks to an enhanced eight‑period day with a daily guided‑study period and a two‑year implementation intended to preserve some blocked CTE courses.
The Davenport Community School District presented a plan to replace the existing 90‑minute block schedule at its high schools with a new eight‑period day that largely uses 45‑minute instructional periods, district officials said at the board meeting.
District leaders said the schedule change is designed to provide year‑long ELA and math courses, create a daily guided‑study period for intervention or enrichment, increase student choice, and build regular teacher planning and collaboration time.
Diane Campbell, the district’s director of learning and results, told the board the advisory and implementation work began in 2023 and involved teachers, counselors, parents and students. "The schedule is designed to meet the needs of students at multiple levels," Campbell said, describing the guided‑study period as a time that can be used for targeted intervention, acceleration, or enrichment.
The district plans a two‑year rollout. For the 2025–26 school year most courses will meet for approximately 45 minutes across an 18‑week term; a set of courses the implementation team judged to need extended time will remain blocked in year one. The district will use year two (2026–27) to expand block offerings and to revisit courses that require longer lab or shop time.
John Flynn, executive director of the Central Region, said teachers will be scheduled to teach six of eight periods and will have a daily planning period plus an additional duty/meeting period. "Each teacher will have a plan period during the day," Flynn said. "That also offers us the ability to schedule a little more creatively so our teachers have that built in time to collaborate." Dr. Barney, executive director of the North Region (joining remotely), said phased implementation will give the district time to adjust course catalogs, master schedules and professional development.
Students, parents and local employers spoke at open forum in opposition to moving CTE and vocational classes to shorter periods. Keenan Hutchinson, a Davenport resident and graduate who said he hires students for apprenticeships, said, "45 minutes is not enough. Students in trade classes need time to put on their protective gear and prepare. Teachers need time to teach, demonstrate, and follow‑up with the students." Tony Reimers, a welding apprentice and student, told the board the change would "have a devastating effects on not just our education, but the future of our entire career and technical education program." Several instructors and employers urged the board to keep capstone and lab‑intensive CTE classes blocked.
District staff responded that a number of CTE and lab courses were kept as block courses for 2025–26 (examples announced include introductory and advanced welding, some auto tech courses, ProStart, early childhood CTE sequences, and EICC/dual‑credit offerings) and that phase two will review additional CTE classes to restore or add blocked configurations as needed. Campbell said the phase‑two team will meet every other week and will include schedulers, teachers, counselors and specialists to address those course‑level issues.
Board members pressed administrators on logistics: passing times, lunch overlaps, how labs and AP courses will be handled, and how the district will track early indicators of success. The district said it will use grades, attendance, benchmark MAP growth and other leading indicators rather than waiting for long‑term state test results.
The board did not take a formal vote on the schedule during the March meeting. District leaders said teachers and counselors are finalizing master schedules and course requests and counselors will work with students individually as master schedules are completed.
The presentation and the public response underscore tensions between district‑wide goals for year‑long core instruction and local demands to preserve extended time for career and technical education. District leaders said they will continue to refine the plan with stakeholder input and that year‑two adjustments aim to restore additional block time where evidence shows it is required.
