Board hears timeline for high school schedule change as teachers and residents urge more planning

The West Chester Area School District superintendent outlined a timeline on April 28 for implementing a proposed high school master schedule change, while teachers, students and parents urged the board to delay the rollout to allow more planning, clearer budgets and fuller stakeholder input.

Superintendent Dr. Christopher told the board the district would aim to present a substantially completed plan in November 2025, with an expected board action date in February 2026 and construction or implementation work completed by August 2026. "The idea would be that we would have a substantially completed plan for what that would look like for a board presentation in November of 2025 with an expected school board action date in February, which will allow the board to take action on any financial things they may need to move forward with so that work could be completed by August of 2026," he said during his monthly report.

The superintendent described a set of benchmarks administrators are proposing to address facilities, food service, seating and collaboration space, lunch supervision, technology and safety supports, scheduling for specialty programs and graduation-requirement alignment. He also said the district plans a family town…