By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
School administrators at Moapa Valley High School held a parent meeting on Wednesday evening, March 7, in the school cafeteria to update community members on major changes taking place to the class schedule at the school this fall. About 85 people were in attendance.
MVHS Principal Hal Mortensen began the meeting explaining that normally the school would seek input from its stakeholders, parents, teachers, staff and students about a change of this magnitude.
“Unfortunately, this all came upon us rather suddenly,” Mortensen said. “So we do not have the opportunity to counsel very much about it. It has hit us like a train wreck about to happen. So tonight, I just want to bring it to your attention, what we are doing for our school; and then answer your questions.”
Mortensen explained that the school will be unable to continue its block schedule. The block, which has been utilized at the school since the early 1990s, allows students to enroll in up to eight courses, presented in four-period blocks every other day. Classes are 87 minutes each, compared to the more common six-period schedule day of 47 minutes per period.
Mortensen said that the block schedule had been good for the school in many different ways. “It helps with our electives, giving more time for Ag classes, Welding, band and others to focus on instruction,” Mortensen said. “It also allows for students who struggle in core subjects to have more time to work through the material and a better chance to pass the class and graduate.”
The main problem with this long-standing scheduling regimen is that students in grade 10 and 11 were being allowed to have open periods, Mortensen said. Because there is the opportunity to earn 8 credits per semester rather than the more common 6 credits, students become credit rich. This has resulted in the practice of students in 10th grade taking one open; and students in 11th grade two open periods.
Last month, this practice was determined out of compliance with state regulation by the Clark County School District (CCSD). Mortensen said that CCSD central office administrators had contacted him in early January to inquire about the school’s policy around open periods. Then on Feb. 1, he received a directive from CCSD that MVHS was out of compliance with Nevada law regarding attendance at school. He was mandated to create a plan immediately to bring the school back in compliance.
“I also received a directive not to share this with anyone,” Mortensen said. “That same day we had a meeting of our School Organization Team (SOT) and I was unable to talk to them about it.”
Mortensen said that this odd directive was lifted about a week later.
But further on in the month, he received another directive stating that no student in grades 9, 10 or 11 could schedule an open period. He was told this was due to a certain clause in the Nevada Administrative Code which mandates that, in order for a CCSD student to be considered, and publicly funded, as a full-time pupil, the student must be enrolled in a minimum of “six courses or the equivalent of six periods per day if he/she is in grade 9, 10 or 11.”
“If I have a junior and he takes an open, then according to CCSD, he is considered absent during that period and not present in school,” Mortensen said. “So that can change the funding that the district and the school receives for that student.”
Finding a class slot for the roughly 285 sophomore and junior open periods, using the eight-period block schedule, would be problematic given the current staffing at the school, Mortensen said.
“I don’t have the luxury of eight 9th grade English teachers on the faculty; or ten 10th grade teachers,” Mortensen said. “I only have one for each. So that makes the eight period block schedule impossible to do.”
The options are to hold a fixed seven or six period schedule, Mortensen said. The seven period day would require a majority vote by the teachers at the school because it would shave off a portion of their contractual prep time, he added.
Mortensen said that he had met with the teachers the week before and had received an indication that most would be willing to agree to the seven period schedule. However, the teachers union would have to hold a formal election of the faculty in May to issue the final waiver.
The six period schedule would increase class sizes significantly and require the school to surplus a couple of teaching positions, Mortensen said.
“Our teachers here have agreed to give up a total of 15 minutes of prep per week so that we can keep all of our staff, maintain our course offerings and keep class sizes down,” Mortensen said. “I think that speaks volumes of our teachers being willing to do that.”
Mortensen said that the open period policy would not affect the seniors. They would still be able to take up to three open periods depending on whether they met the standard academic requirements. They could also still take an open for career/job study if they were in a paid employment position, he said.
During a question and answer period, one parent asked if, given this directive, MVHS had been in violation of state law for the past 30 years of the block. Mortensen responded that he had asked a similar question of his CCSD supervisors and had been told, ‘yes.’
Former MVHS principal Dr. Larry Moses, who was in attendance at the meeting contested this idea. Moses was principal when the block schedule was first implemented.
“When we started it, it was based on minutes of instruction,” Moses said. “We actually exceed the minutes in a two day period that you did in one day. We took that concept through the proper procedure with the state and they agreed that it was equivalent. So for 30 years we have been working on the requirement of being the equivalent of the six periods. Now the district is saying that it is not equivalent. They are apparently not reading that section of the regulation anymore.”
Another parent asked if dual credit college courses through CSN would still be offered during the school day. Mortensen responded that these classes would continue to be offered.
