Bayfield High School is transitioning class schedules, course offerings, and graduation requirements, some of that driven by state mandates.

Principal Leon Hanhard and the school's two counselors described the long list of proposed changes to the school board on Feb. 10.

Superintendent Troy Zabel cited work done by the school leadership team. "There's a lot of information that you need to look at critically, ask the hard questions," he said and advised that the proposal will likely be up for a vote at the Feb. 24 board meeting.

"It's the kind of discussion we should have been having over the past several years," Zabel said.

Work on this started last August, Hanhardt said. "We were going to look at this as a transition year with a lot of new staff (including himself). We've had every stakeholder you can imagine."

Counselor Amy Miglinas added that the leadership team started setting priorities last August, and "the master schedule kept popping up." A survey went out last fall to students, parents, teachers, recent graduates and some community members. The stated aim was to make class schedules and course offerings student-driven rather than teacher-driven.

Hanhardt said the bell schedule for 2015-16 will be mostly the same as this year, with the starting bell at 7:50 a.m. and the end bell at 3:30 p.m.

Within that, there will be changes: moving and re-naming the starting "student success" time to the end of the day, lengthening the shorter, so-called "skinny" periods from 42 to 48 minutes with 3 minute passing time, and the longer "block" classes to equal two skinnies plus the passing time.

BHS has a "student success" period at the start of the school day this year. It will move to the end of the school day and be called a "seminar," with subjects like character development, community service, freshman study skills, sophomore life skills and teen living, ACT preparation for juniors, and college and career preparation for seniors.

The seminar will earn .25 credit per semester, Hanhardt said. Along with changing the time of the session, he said, "You have to change the name of it. 'Student success' at this point is a failure. We need something with teeth and accountability. ... We're really putting the pieces together for accountability, to have true content taught in there."

With the proposed schedule, some students could end up with eight classes, all skinnies plus the end of day period.

Hanhardt said, "Back in August, we said we'd do a student-driven schedule. We aren't doing that." He cited the prospect of some kids with eight classes. "That's a huge problem for freshmen and sophomores. That's why it's not a student-driven schedule. It's driven by teachers."

He said, "There have been multiple schedules go out, everything you can imagine. I have a folder full of options. Our proposal is to go back to the block and skinny... This isn't perfect, but it will allow us to transition."

Zabel commented, "I'm not OK with this schedule long-term. The most valuable thing a kid has is time in front of a good teacher." He worried that students could have long gaps from one math class to the next, and they would lose what they'd learned in the first one.

"That's my concern with this type of schedule," he said.

Hanhardt said, "In a perfect world, the block/ skinny option wouldn't be there. But in a world of transition with students' best interest, that's what you see here."

The goal is some block and some skinny classes in each subject area, he said. Currently, all the history classes are blocks. He cited an equity issue for teachers as well. Some are teaching eight skinnies, while some are teaching only three block classes.

Zabel acknowledged, "You are transitioning enough content that leaving the schedule the same isn't a bad idea; not so much change at once."

Course offerings also are being looked at, including more offerings under the core content areas of English, math, social studies, and science; also electives in performing arts, foreign languages, visual arts, and PE. Some would be online classes.

Also mentioned were CTE (vocational) classes such as culinary arts, child development, skilled trades, technology and engineering, health sciences, public safety, ag sciences, and welding.

"The course catalog is very rough," Hanhardt advised.

Miglinas said the current class schedule had to be re-done last July because there weren't enough electives.

Counselor Peggy Whiteman added, "This allows kids to take electives because they want to, not just to fill holes in their schedule."

Zabel said some of this means additional teachers and the question of, "where does the money come from? It's hard to justify some programs when there's a lot more interest in other programs."

Hanhardt said, "We aren't offering a class for three or four kids unless it's an upper level class."

Miglinas said they hope to know what students actually want to take by the end of March.

Hanhardt said, "This was one of the big initiatives for the year. We have to get a master schedule developed. This will drive staffing decisions in the next few weeks. It will go out to the kids in March."

Also mentioned in the presentation was an option for "fast track" attendance at Fort Lewis College, along with work release internships for juniors and seniors, as long as they are on track to meet graduation requirements.

Graduation requirements also were part of the discussion.

Whiteman said there will be changing requirements coming down from the Colorado Department of Education, and, "We wanted to get ahead of the game and not be scrambling at the last minute."

Zabel advised, "Those are even in flux. There's enough turmoil in the state over a lot of those. This is getting sucked into that. It's the class of 2021, current sixth graders, that will really be held accountable on all this (the state requirements). Bayfield has always had a pretty high level of expectation. There will be multiple ways to demonstrate competency."

Bayfield currently requires 28 credits for graduation. Skinny classes will get .5 credit per semester.

For graduation in 2018, students will need to demonstrate competency in English, math, science, and social studies, Hanhardt said. One issue is what constitutes a show of competency.

Whiteman said seniors will have to have credits for at least two extracurricular activities. Those can be school-based, work release, or service learning.

Miglinas said 2018 and beyond also will require demonstration of "entrepreneurial and professional competencies, evidence that kids have the skills to move on after graduation."

Blatnick asked, "How do you have accountability for those?"

Zabel said, "There's a lot to figure that out."