By Cal Clapper

When a McCaskey teacher was asked how they would improve the new flex schedule they said, “I would get rid of it to improve it.” The flex/lunch schedule that began on September 14 has received a lot of mixed reactions from both teachers and students, but some of the unrest that has come with the new schedule can be attributed to a misunderstanding about what the flex schedule is, and what it’s going to be. Currently, the flex schedule splits the lunch period in half; one part and study hall or flex, and the other is a typical lunch period.  According to McCaskey Principal Dr. Reese, “The way it looks now is not the way it will look as we go forward.” 

The general perception of flex amongst students and teachers is that it is intended as a study hall, but Dr. Reese says that this is just the first form of flex: “Eventually, students will have a choice in what they do during that time period.” The goal for the future of flex is to have a time when students can seek out what they need, “I think that the real benefit becomes when you can choose what you really need as a student instead of us guessing what you need.” The flex schedule did not begin like this as it would add extra complications to what was already a big logistical challenge. Dr Reese said that he “felt that if we built it slowly over time we would get a stronger product as the end result.” 

Although the flex schedule will likely be improving for students, it will still require teachers to give up prep periods to monitor students’ flex periods. One McCaskey teacher criticized the flex schedule for eliminating one of their prep periods, “It’s given me less time to prepare for my classes which I strongly dislike.” It will also continue to shorten students’ lunch periods, valuable times for socializing in addition to the standard time when students can eat. Lunch provided students an opportunity to relax with their friends before heading back to their classes. “Now you just have to get to the cafeteria, rush through eating and then leave. There’s no time to calm down, unwind, and rewind.” 

The flex schedule rotates classrooms and teachers on a six-day schedule. The six-day flex rotation does not align with the five-day school week, causing confusion as to what “flex day” it is, and where students are supposed to be. Dr. Reese says that the six-day schedule is a technical necessity, “Our system in Synergy will not allow us to run the flex the way we run it on a five-day, we had to run it on a six-day to make it work because of our size and our complex course offerings.” While the six-day schedule is an inconvenience, it isn’t an error in the design of the flex schedule, and changing it is out of anyone’s control. 

The new flex schedule is a huge change for McCaskey, and as Dr. Reese pointed out, adjusting to change is hard: “It’s been an eight-period day as long as anyone can remember.” While it may take a while for students and teachers to fully adjust to the change, new opportunities like the peer tutoring program show the promise of what flex time could be used for in the future as it evolves to meet a wide variety of student needs.