Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the High School Schedule topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District details high‑school block schedule rollout; administrators flag student‑information migration and counselor staffing as key risks
Summary
Chapel Hill‑Carrboro administrators briefed the board on implementation of a new high‑school block (4x4) schedule, describing professional development plans, a partnership with Advanced Learning Partners, and risks including the statewide migration to Infinite Campus and recent counselor contract changes; the board asked staff to return with more analysis, including on a possible state waiver to shift the high‑school calendar.
District administrators presented a progress report on implementing the new high‑school block schedule and highlighted several operational risks the board will need to monitor. The presentation outlined professional development, pacing‑guide updates, master‑schedule work and an implementation dashboard staff have posted on the district website.
The update, delivered by district presenters, said professional development will include in‑person sessions, asynchronous online courses and protected PLC time for teachers. "Our asynchronous work is really trying to give us an opportunity to give teachers time during their planning periods," an administrator said, adding the district has a partnership with Branching Minds and that the district negotiated a low per‑course cost.
The administration reported pacing guides are being revised with a target of largely completing updates by the end of November and said a cross‑representative 4x4 committee — including counselors, arts and AP representatives — will meet in October and November to align course pairings and master schedules. Staff said course proposals tied to the schedule will come forward to the board in upcoming meetings.
Administrators also warned of two operational risks. First, the state‑led rollout of a new student‑information system, Infinite Campus, will require reformatting PowerSchool data into a household‑centered model and carries implementation complexity. "This system will replace what we all know and love PowerSchool," an administrator said, explaining the district chose cohort 2 to let earlier adopters work out kinks and that the student‑information team has trained with the state team.
Second, the district has reduced some counselor contracts to ten months, which staff said could affect scheduling and implementation supports. Staff described options to stagger counselor contract time so that not all counselors are off at once and said they are monitoring potential impacts on course selection and master schedule timeline.
Board members pressed staff on subject‑area engagement, protection of PLC time and the master‑schedule logistics for AP, arts and world‑language classes. The board asked administrators to return with more detailed timelines and to explore mitigations for semester‑length imbalance under a block schedule. One administrator outlined a possible mitigation that would require a state calendar waiver — starting high schools two weeks earlier and ending two weeks earlier so semester 1 would conclude before winter break — and the board asked staff to gather information and a framework to inform any future petition to the state.
The administration said it will continue to use the implementation dashboard to update the public and return to the board with additional detail on risk mitigation, pacing guides and staffing implications.
