Over the summer, North Central has made a few changes to the schedules of teachers, including the addition of a sixth class for many. The change has received some controversy in the teacher community, as teachers struggle to adjust to their new schedules. Principal Evans Branigan III hopes the change will have little effect on student experiences in the classroom.
“With the addition of an extra class for teachers, although it will be an adjustment, the hope is that there will not be any difference in how the classes are run. It is important to the board that the students do not feel any change in their classes,” Principal Branigan said.
Some teachers feel that the change is unnecessary and makes their day more demanding. The teachers simply want to teach their students the best they can and put effort into their classes.
“It’s stressful having to teach all those classes in one day and is really confusing”, English teacher Melissa Martin said.
The teachers believe that there is not any benefit to the extra class that has been added to their schedule, and the change has only hindered their ability to teach successfully.
“There are no benefits and the drawbacks are that I confuse classes and have to plan for more now and forget to do things for my classes,” Martin said.
The change in schedule is unpopular also due to the fact that the six classes change only applies to some teachers, while others still teach the previous standard of five classes. The teachers required to teach six classes receive no additional compensation.
“Make it more even between teachers or hire more teachers to teach those classes,” Martin said.
The most stressful part of taking on these classes for teachers has been adjusting to the maintaining progress with another class and overall extra work.
“[The main challenge is] dealing with all those classes in a day and being overworked and stressed out all day,” Martin said.
