For the first time since Oakland Tech implemented a block schedule five years ago, the school has made changes to advisory to better align with teachers’ weekly staff meetings and address the safety concerns previously tied to the class. To reduce these issues, advisory was moved to eighth period on Fridays and removed from the Wednesday schedule altogether.
While opinions on the changes are mixed, with students and staff still adjusting, even bigger shifts may lie ahead as the school considers once again revising the schedule and adding an additional academic period, potentially removing advisory altogether in the incoming years.
As students adjust, many are unsure why these changes were implemented in the first place. One of the biggest reasons lies in the old advisory system.
The two forty-five minute advisory periods were inconsistent and often left students wandering instead of attending their assigned classes. Teachers frequently had no idea where students were, since passes did not guarantee they would be in the right place. This created safety and liability concerns for the school, which is responsible for students during all school hours.
According to Oakland Tech’s Principal, Mr. Price, the former advisory structure created more problems than it solved.
“Because advisory was in the middle of the day, we saw our absence rates go up two or three percent,” he stated,“The issue is that there’s no grade attached to it, and because there was no grade attached to it, you all as students say, ‘Why should we go if we’re not getting any credit or a grade?’”
The changes to advisory are not the only changes to this year’s schedule; Monday lunches have been affected as well. The longer Monday lunch was a highlight for many students, giving just enough time to wander farther out, grab food at places like Safeway or McDonald’s, and still make it back before class. But as much as people enjoyed the freedom, the forty-five minute lunch proved to have some safety concerns.
Now reduced to thirty minutes, Monday lunch is consistent with the rest of the week’s schedule. While the shorter times have been an adjustment for students, they have brought clear benefits for the school’s overall safety. During all school hours, the school is liable for not only what happens on campus but also for incidents that occur off campus.
These safety concerns were not the only factor in the new schedule. Teacher needs also played a significant role in shaping the changes.
Teachers had to be out earlier on Wednesdays so weekly staff meetings could end at 4:00 p.m., keeping them within their seven hour workday contract. And on the second Wednesday of every month, there are district-wide meetings for all OUSD staff. Central PD meetings were held at 2:15 p.m., which made it difficult for teachers to arrive on time when school ended at 2:55 p.m. With the new schedule, shorter Wednesdays ending at 2:00 p.m. allow teachers to be on time and still finish their meetings before 4:00 p.m.
Mr. Price thinks this change would bring consistency with not only Oakland Tech’s bell schedule but with others across the district as well.
“So again, it’s all about alignment, trying to align what Tech does here with other schools in the district,” Price stated. “The reality is, if Tech is a good school, we should be able to share our practices [and] what we’re doing here with these other schools, and vice versa.”
Through all this chaos, yet another schedule change is already being tentatively set for next year. Oakland Tech’s proposal to add an eighth class period and remove advisory completely is still in the works, but it signals a major shift on the horizon. Students and staff may soon find themselves adjusting to a routine that looks very different from the one they know now.