Teachers fault less class time

Don't shortchange the students' instruction, the union leader told the board.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The new class schedule at Warren G. Harding High School is depriving students of state-mandated instructional time, the teachers union president told the school board Tuesday.
"We want the kids to have as much instructional time as they can, and reducing it is not acceptable," said Jeff Pegg, president of the Warren Education Association. "We're in the profession to teach and educate. We need these students in the classroom at least the minimum of what the state's requiring."
The new class schedule took effect this month because Harding replaced in-class sack lunches with hot lunch service in its cafeteria. Class period lengths changed, but the 7:10 a.m. arrival and 1:30 p.m. dismissal did not.
Full hour classes
Pegg said the union takes no position on the reinstatement of hot cafeteria lunches, but he said there's time within the current high school schedule to meet the state minimum classroom time requirements and serve hot lunches. To meet state standards, class periods should be a full hour each day at the high school, Pegg said.
Under the previous schedule, class periods were either 56 or 58 minutes, with an 18-minute lunch period. Under the new schedule, the first four periods are either 50 or 51 minutes; the fifth period, which includes lunch, varies between 55 and 60 minutes; and sixth period, the final period of the day has been reduced to 47 minutes.
"It's not even conceivable to me or my members how less instructional time is going to help us improve our state academic standing," Pegg told the board. He urged the board to find another way to resolve the scheduling issue without reducing classroom time.
Board members asked no questions and made no comments on the matter after Pegg addressed them. Superintendent Kathryn Hellweg said she would defer comment until she can study the matter further.
Robert L. Faulkner Sr. was elected to succeed Linda H. Metzendorf as board president for 2006. Edward Bolino was elected to succeed Nedra Bowen as vice president. Sworn in were newly elected board member Shari Harrell and Faulkner, who was re-elected to the board in November. Faulkner was reappointed as the board's representative on the Trumbull Career and Technical Center Board of Education.