Troy School District approves schedule change

Troy School District No. 1 voted unanimously to approve a plan to change Troy High School’s schedule from the current block to a 6.5-period schedule.

Kelly Palmer, Troy High School’s counselor and the one heading up the group to rework the schedule, presented the plan at Monday’s school board meeting.

He was honest and succinct about the proposal to change the nearly 15-year old system.

“If we could continue the block schedule, we would,” Palmer said. “But the benefits of the block has become a liability.”

Palmer and current School Board President John Konzen pushed for the block schedule after a business trip 16 years ago taught them the strengths of the system compared to the seven-period schedule Troy was using.

Since, Troy’s student population has declined nearly in half, and the load in uncompensated hours on the remaining educators has increased.

According to Troy High School Principal Jacob Francom, the change of costs in the new plan would be negligible at best. Staff wouldn’t be cut or added necessarily, and paid hours would remain static. More out-of-class hours might be a reality for teachers as out-of-class prepartory instructional time is likely to increase by nearly 50 hours per course.

The block schedule provides 125 hours per course, and 6.5 would shift to 175 hours, giving students more time to grasp subjects.

Another plus of the 6.5 period schedule is continuity. The block schedule, for all its diversity, can have students go nearly a full year without taking a math course, for example. With the proposed schedule, a student will take a course for the duration of the school year, meaning potentially less transition time between school years.

With less funding, teachers and students, class options have been cut by 25 percent. 

This makes things difficult for students in several ways, as Troy’s high graduation standards mean there is little leeway for students trying to take classes in a congested time period.

Montana currently requires 20 high school credits for graduation. Troy, which offers 32 total for four years, requires 27.

A 6.5 period schedule (offering 26 credits), obviously, would necessitate a change in requirements.

But the plan is still tenuous and subject to change before Troy’s students begin registering for the next school year. 

“If 6.5 periods doesn’t work,” Palmer said. “I’ll be the first one to holler.”