MV-LA debates high school schedules MV-LA debates high school schedules (August 26, 2005)

By Katie Vaughn

Discussion over how to structure the schedules of future school years dominated much of the high school district's Aug. 22 board of trustees meeting, the first of the new school year.

Since 2003, Los Altos High School students have enjoyed their first semester of classes wrapping up before the December holiday break, as opposed to the previous plan, in which students returned from vacation and took final exams a week later. Mountain View High School began piloting the program last year. The changes were made at students' requests and with teacher approval, and little objection has been raised since, said Superintendent Rich Fischer.

"It appears to be very popular with parents and students," Fischer said of the shorter first semester. "It's been, I think, quite successful."

But at the meeting, the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School board members spoke of the drawbacks to allowing the second semester to run longer than the first. Board president David Williams said the typical difference in length of over 20 days may be significant enough to warrant an examination of the practice and its alternatives.

Board member Phil Faillace suggested the district determine how teachers are fitting 90 days' worth of material into 70 days of classes, then apply those principals to all classes. Or, he said, if teachers are not able to fit all material into the first semesters, they should admit the shortcoming.

After a lengthy discussion, the board decided to look into making future semesters more -- but not necessarily exactly -- even. Fischer said the district may include the topic in negotiations with teachers associations on the 2007-08 school year, which are set to begin in December. No decisions have been made on when the academic year would start and end, or whether the first semester would conclude before the holiday break.

In other news, Joe White, associate superintendent of business services, announced that the renovation of Los Altos High's 12 tennis courts is complete, after the courts were resurfaced and a new fence was installed.

White also predicted that the new $6.2 million Alta Vista High School building -- a project of 10 classrooms and an administrative wing -- will be done by the end of September, while a multipurpose building, parking lot and landscaping work are slated to be completed by Nov. 21.

E-mail Katie Vaughn at kvaughn@mv-voice.com

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