JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County Public Schools is making changes to middle and high school schedules next school year.
Middle school students will now follow a seven-period schedule, attending the same seven courses daily.
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High schools will operate on a 3x3 block schedule with a skinny course. According to DCPS, this means students will take three 100-minute courses every other day on an A/B rotation and one 50-minute course daily, totaling seven courses. Skinny courses will be determined by the school.
The district hopes that it will cut down on instructional costs and said it should save them as much as ten million dollars.
“It reduces the number of educators we need,” said Dr. Christopher Bernier, Duval County School Superintendent. “Let me be very clear. We’re not going to cut staff. We have vacancies that those educators can fall into, and they’ll still continue to be employed with us.”
There are four exceptions: Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Stanton College Preparatory, Paxon School for Advanced Studies, and Samuel Wolfson School for Advanced Studies will retain their 4x4 block schedules.
“The extraordinary demands of academic programming and the high number of students enrolled in those advanced programs require the additional class period,” DCPS explained in a news release.
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One parent we spoke with said this schedule change is creating unfair disadvantages for her kids.
“My children do not attend a magnet school,” said Katie Hathaway. “They attend their awesome neighborhood schools, and they are taking advanced classes. So, students like mine who are looking to boost their schedule with more core classes to be competitive in the college application process will be losing out in this decision.”
The district said these changes came after a review of budget constraints and extensive stakeholder discussions.
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