Youth Perspectives: Budget Woes Mean Some Changes in Student Schedules

It's back-to-school time at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, and change is in the air.

The most broadly felt change is the elimination of "late-start" or "collaboration" Wednesdays and the loss of extra classes, called A and B periods, during normal school days.  

In previous school years, school started at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, 48 minutes later than other days. This year, every school day, including Wednesday, will start at 8 a.m.  

Opinions on the change are varied among students, but most people will miss their extra time to catch up on schoolwork and sleep.

"I'm really sad because I liked late days," said Elsa Schwaninger, a senior this year.

Others say they won't necessarily feel a loss.

"It doesn't particularly feel that different, because it's still a school day," said senior Chan Kim.

Wednesday late days were originally instituted so that teachers could spend extra time one day a week collaborating. During this period, teachers would meet with others in their department to "share ideas" and discuss plans for the coming week, said Greg Haubner, Foothill's A.P. Economics teacher. Teachers also used this time to discuss ideas on how to improve the curriculum.

But fiscally, this extra time has become too expensive. The Pleasanton Unified School District alone had to meet an $8 million budget gap for the current school year.

It was estimated that the elimination of the seven-period day (getting rid of A and B periods) from both district high schools would save the district $448,000, said Trevor Knaggs, president of the Pleasanton Teacher's Association.

Without those extra periods, schools no longer had enough instructional minutes to meet state requirements, so the collaboration period had to be eliminated.

Most juniors and seniors interviewed didn't seem to mind the loss of A and B period. But this change is affecting many, including those in the school's marching band, who practiced daily during A period.

"That means we don't get near the amount of practice we need in order to have our field show ready, and we'll spend several 12-hour Saturdays out on the field practicing as the season goes on," said Jack Atherton, who plays the trumpet in Foothill's marching band.

Students in some other classes say they have to cut back on various items. 

"We're having to be really stingy," said Lauren Kilborn, a senior who plays the bass clarinet in Foothill's wind ensemble. 

Other programs such as sports and art programs have also suffered.

"Yearbook is affected" by the budget cuts, said junior Shannon Easley. They have had to do more fundraising than usual, but luckily the yearbook program has "gotten a lot of help from outside people," said Easley.

Yearbook is also using the Internet to distribute forms, which was previously done through snail mail, considerably lowering expenses.

Sports have also been hit with rising transportation and uniform costs as the school can no longer afford to foot the bill. Art classes must ask students to pay for many of their own supplies.

With the recent changes, it's also more difficult to plan schedules to everyone's satisfaction.

"We've lost 14 teachers," said Foothill High registrar Donna Willy. "Multiply that by five, and that's how many sections are gone. There's not as many options for students."