By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Hays High School students will not only be starting school in August in a new school, but they will also have a new schedule and cell phone policy.
Both were discussed at the Hays USD 489 school board meeting on Monday.
The new schedule, which has been dubbed "Move it Mondays" will have students attending all of their classes on Mondays. Students will continue to attend classes based on the maroon and gold block scheduling on Tuesdays through Fridays.
The school had already used the Move It Monday schedule on the first day of each semester. This pilot program would result in the Move It schedule every Monday.
Principal Shawn Henderson said the schedule allows students to have more frequent contact with teachers. He said teachers also expressed concerns students were not well-engaged during Pride time.
Class time increases
For the 2024-2025 School Year
2-week instructional time per class for 5-day weeks:
85 minute/class 5 meetings = 425 minutes over 2-weeks
For the 2025-2026 School Year
2-week instruction time per class for 5-day weeks:
90 minute/class 4 meetings = 440 minutes over 2-weeks
One teacher who spoke in favor of the schedule at the meeting said one of her students missed three weeks of math classes due to wrestling.
She said teachers had issues with 40 minutes of unstructured time. The new schedule will reduce Pride to 20 minutes.
Board member Jayme Goetz met with Henderson, Board President Curt Vajnar and other administrators after she said several questions about the schedule were brought to her by parents and teachers.
"There are teachers and parents who have concerns with this new schedule," Goetz said. "I personally have nothing wrong with this schedule. I do not care if they implement it or not. What I do care about is that those concerns are heard and represented.
"All I am asking is that the teachers have the opportunity to vote on the implementation of this new schedule this year."
Although the teachers were not given the opportunity to vote on the pilot, the schedule will be part of the negotiated agreement next year if the administration decides to make the change permanent, Henderson said.
Alex Underwood, a teacher, said the idea for the new schedule originated from a building leadership team meeting. The teachers expressed concern about the amount of extra time students have at school during Pride time and guided personal study time, he said.
Students are required to enroll in personal study time. It encompasses a full 86-minute class period, which the students have every other day.
The new schedule was pitched to the whole staff during a morning faculty meeting. Underwood said some concerns were expressed, but nothing significant was noted.
"Hearing not a lot of dissent from other teachers, we thought we could go forward," Underwood said.
He said the negative to the new schedule is classes that work better in a block schedule, such as a culinary class, gym or woods, would have to be more creative about using the shorter 45-minute class schedules on Mondays.
Clubs will still meet during Pride time, but for 20 minutes. Second breakfast will also continue.
During Pride time, students are presented with a social/emotional curriculum, clubs meet and students can pass to see other teachers.
"While that is effective for some teachers, certainly, and some students certainly, the amount of extra time they have in that and their [guided personal study time] for a lot of students is not particularly the most well-used time. So it ends up being kind of a hangout time for students," Underwood said.
Underwood said no teachers have planning time during Pride time, so there's no one to help monitor what's going on in the halls.
"It has evolved in the student culture that it is their time, and they can do whatever they want. They push back against us really hard on that," he said. ... "It's not working super great, and we need a change for sure."
Goetz asked why guided personal study time paras weren't monitoring the hallways during Pride time.
Assistant Principal Becky Hickert said that in order to fully staff guided personal study time, the paras have to take their breaks during Pride time.
Goetz said, "If I am getting phone calls that we are implementing too much in one year, then there's a problem somewhere."
Board member Derek Yarmer said he supported more class time and structure for students.
The board was not required to take action on the schedule proposal.
Cell phones
Teachers at the meeting on Monday said the new cell phone policy is also part of the effort to better focus and engage students.
The board had its first reading of the student handbooks, which contain the new policy, and board members had questions about enforcement.
• On a first offense, the cell phone will be confiscated, and the student can pick up the phone after school.
• On a second offense, the parent has to pick up the phone at the school.
• On the third offense, the student and parent have to meet with an administrator to draft a memorandum of understanding.
Goetz asked what the administrators would do if a parent refused to follow the policy.
"We would appreciate your support as a board," Henderson said.
He added, "This is going to be a challenge not just for my staff and students, but for their families because our students have been directly communicating with mom and dad during the day, which means mom and dad have a job and they're talking to their students during the day.
"We are all going to have to retrain together," he said. "It can't be just these people standing up here. I can't raise 1,000 kids by myself. We just have the honor of working with them when they come to us."
Henderson said the elimination of cell phone use during the school day will have to be an effort of the entire community.
Goetz and Henderson both encouraged parents to contact the office in the event of an emergency, rather than trying to call students on their cell phones.
Board member Ruth Ruder said, "In the schools that I have heard have banned them, they said it works, and the kids adjusted just fine. We probably handle it worse than they do."