Cloverdale High staff favor hybrid bell schedule as trustees seek more data

Forrest, a Cloverdale High presenter, told the board the high school has developed five scheduling options to balance teacher prep time, course offerings and student supports and that staff's internal poll showed 91% support for "option 5," a model with two block days and three all-class days.

The choice matters, Forrest said, because switching from the current block model to a seven-period day would reduce the district's number of sections and limit students' access to career-technical education, dual enrollment and laboratory courses. He summarized staff analysis showing a seven-period day would cut roughly 18% of sections while a six-period day would cut about 30%.

Renee Duvander, president of the Teachers Association of Cloverdale, urged the board to preserve the blue/gold block schedule and to negotiate any contractual changes. "Schedule changes of this magnitude must be negotiated," Duvander said, adding that a proposed move to seven periods would reduce teacher prep from the current roughly 80 minutes per day to as little as 230 minutes per week in one scenario and would "lead to teacher burnout and drive educators to leave." The union representative listed classroom- and program-level harms she said would follow if the district implemented a schedule that materially reduces prep time.

Forrest walked trustees through the staff process (site leadership team, PD day, PLCs) and the five options, noting staff had revised block lengths and advisory time based on feedback. He said option 5 was designed to preserve some block time for CTE and lab classes while keeping a consistent dismissal time (3:15 p.m.) on most days to avoid transportation conflicts.

Trustees asked for supporting data before giving firm direction: requested materials included comparative student-performance data from the three years before the schedule change and since (recognizing COVID-era effects), an easy-to-read printout of the 6- and 7-period scenarios with the black-box section counts shown in the presentation, and student/advisory feedback. Staff agreed to provide student outcome metrics, attendance context, printable schedules in large type, and to convene further discussion at a special meeting if needed. Staff cautioned that any option that reduces the contractual daily 45-minute prep would require negotiations with the certificated employee group.

The board did not take action on a final schedule. Staff said they will bring additional data and draft negotiating guidance back to trustees; Forrest said he would also email the full set of hyperlinked presentation materials to the board.

Next steps: trustees asked staff to return with the requested data and with a plan for negotiations and implementation timelines; no schedule change will be adopted without further board direction and, where required, bargaining with the certificated union.