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Students and teachers urge Lake Oswego board to keep ‘rainbow’ middle school schedule
Summary
Dozens of students and middle‑level educators told the Lake Oswego School Board that a proposed move from the district’s longer 'rainbow' class periods to a 7‑period day would harm instruction, increase transitions and destabilize students amid construction and staffing changes.
Dozens of students and teachers urged the Lake Oswego School District board Tuesday to retain the district’s existing “rainbow” middle school schedule and to reject a proposed shift to a seven‑period day that officials proposed as a budget balancing step.
Current and former Lake Oswego Middle School students told the board the rainbow schedule — which provides longer class blocks and a rotating seven‑day color schedule — gives teachers time for labs, individual help and deeper lessons. “We are currently on a rainbow schedule that has 7 classes that are different depending on the color day,” student Paige Powers said. She and other students warned that a move to a seven‑period day would reduce class time, increase hallway transitions and add daily homework burdens.
Middle school teachers and staff also made extended remarks. Christine Fu, a grade‑level teacher at LMS who said she is listed for transfer, described the “human cost” of moving staff and losing continuity with students. Teacher Willow Merlin said the middle years require a “critical mass of caring adults” and that shortening class periods would reduce teachers’ ability to deliver labs, individualized help and social‑emotional interventions.
Several speakers, including Heather Nelson and other middle school educators, cited guidance from the Association for Middle Level Education that calls for larger, uninterrupted instructional time at the middle level and expressed concern that a seven‑period day would eliminate collaboration time built into the day for teacher planning and IEP work.
Speakers also described construction conditions (no lockers at one middle school) that would make a seven‑period day more onerous and repeated concerns about stability while staff and schedules are changing. One teacher said their school has about 850 students and that the school is facing reductions in staff (speakers cited roughly 15 positions in public remarks at the meeting), which would compound the impact of a scheduling change.
Superintendent Dr. Sheehy responded in the superintendent’s update that she had been principal at a school with a seven‑period day and had heard staff preference to keep the rainbow schedule. She also said district negotiations with the teachers’ union were ongoing and that the district had already identified $10 million in cuts and sought to avoid additional reductions.
No formal board action on the schedule change was recorded at Tuesday’s meeting; speakers urged the board to prioritize student learning and to resolve negotiations before implementing scheduling changes.
