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Stoughton High’s new schedule draws mixed feedback but discipline incidents fall sharply
Summary
Stoughton High School principal Juliet Miller presented midyear survey results showing mixed faculty and student reactions to a 79-minute block schedule but reported a significant drop in office referrals from 892 to 109 compared with a prior year span; administrators credited staffing continuity and schedule changes for improved conduct.
Stoughton High School Principal Juliet Miller on Tuesday presented interim findings from a new schedule implemented in September 2024, including teacher and student survey results and a marked decline in disciplinary referrals.
Miller said faculty (75 respondents) and students (about a 20 percent response rate) completed surveys after the first term. Teachers reported that FlexBlock is being used for extra help, make-up work and brain breaks; about 81 percent of teacher respondents said they see students during FlexBlock and 81 percent said the time allotment of 40 minutes is “just right.” Student responses were split: 51 percent said FlexBlock is too short, 47 percent said it was just right; about 51 percent of students said class periods were too long and 47 percent said they were just right.
Miller described professional development to support long-block instruction and said the school is holding early-Thursday planning sessions to build lessons for the 79-minute blocks. She also said some teachers reported difficulty covering the full curriculum under the new cadence and that the administration plans further support and end-of-year surveys to measure change over time.
On discipline, Miller reported a steep drop in office referrals. For a September–Dec. 1 comparison, the number of teacher referrals to the main office decreased from 892 in 2023 to 109 in 2024. In-school suspensions fell from 12 to 6, out-of-school suspensions from 37 to 16, and expulsions from 1 to 0. Miller and several committee members attributed the decline to a mix of factors: restored administrative staffing, consistently staffed hall monitors, fewer daily transitions under the new schedule, the addition of FlexBlock and a less-crowded, four-lunch model that has lowered tensions in common spaces.
Committee members asked for further disaggregated data by subject and grade and for follow-up surveys later in the year so the district can track adjustment to the schedule and curricular coverage. Miller said she will continue focus groups and provide an updated end-of-year report.
Ending: The committee praised staff for the decline in disciplinary incidents and asked Miller to return with further analysis and any recommendations to address teacher concerns about curriculum coverage.
