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Memorial HS teacher urges board to restore planning time lost under seven-period schedule
Summary
An astronomy teacher at Memorial High School used public comment time to ask McAllen ISD trustees to reconsider a schedule change that moved teachers to seven teaching periods and reduced planning periods, calling the schedule "unsustainable" and saying it is contributing to teacher burnout.
Mister Filado, an astronomy teacher at Memorial High School, used the Feb. 18 public comment period to ask McAllen ISD trustees to reconsider the district's secondary master schedule change that added a seventh teaching period and reduced teachers' planning time.
"Some teachers have nearly 200 students in 2 to 3 preps," Filado said, describing the effect as "very stressful, very exhausting" and saying the change left some teachers with only 15 minutes of prep time during a 50-minute class. He told the board he had taught in the district for more than 25 years and warned that removing planning time risks losing experienced teachers.
Filado said some days teachers receive no planning period because training or ARD meetings replace that time, and he asked trustees where they stood on restoring at least two planning periods or otherwise easing the schedule. "If you don't give us a voice, the only voice teachers have then is to sort of vote with their feet," he said.
The board did not take action during the public comment period; trustees later discussed staffing and asked administrators to quantify savings tied to master-schedule changes and to return with costed scenarios that could restore planning time if feasible.
Filado spoke during the allotted two-minute public-comment slot; the meeting record shows the board received one public comment during the workshop.
