Contention found its way to the Prince Edward County School Board meeting Nov. 8 following the division’s Superintendent Dr. Barbara Johnson’s presentation on the possibility of switching Prince Edward County High School’s schedule to block scheduling.

Following her presentation, Leigh District Representative Dr. Timothy W. Corbett contended that he had never heard about plans to switch to block scheduling. Board Chairman and Farmville Representative Sherry Honeycutt said that the board had heard about it before.

Honeycutt and Corbett’s responses often overlapped with Corbett questioning when it was brought to the board and Honeycutt responding with, “May I finish please?”

“You can talk all night Ms. Honeycutt,” Corbett said at one point in response to her explaining the history of discussion regarding block scheduling.

“Like you have done from 5-5:40,” Honeycutt responded.

At another point during the conversation Prospect District Representative Darin Thomas stood up and walked out without saying anything.

“It’s a school decision regarding the planning,” Honeycutt said. “It’s not a school board decision as to what the high school wanted to do. We are in interest of

informing you like you had asked before from (Director of Accountability and Research Dr. Greg Wheeler). So Dr. Johnson, like you had asked for, is telling you what the results were of this, what, two year study that this committee had done on the block scheduling. I guess we could have left it off the agenda and just have the schools, the high school do whatever they wanted to do.”

Vice Chairman and Hampden District Representative Beulah Womack said that the conversation may have happened but only at committee level.

“That should not have been,” Womack said. “Now, some things have got to come back before the board. I do appreciate this discussion here tonight.”

She said she was enlightened by the report and that she had not heard about the schedule at that point either.

“We’re not asking for policy changes, we’re not asking for anything that’s going to impact the budget because then that’s a different, that’s a different type of discussion,” Johnson said. “Nor are we asking for a change in the school day. We’re simply talking about the best way that this staff views to instruct students.”

According to Johnson’s presentation, possible changes could be four of the same classes every day for 90 days. Then, during the second semester, the student would take four new classes. Another possible change would be an A/B block schedule where, each day of the week is designated as an A day or a B day, four classes would alternate each day. Having four classes a day would allow up to 90 minutes of class time for each class.

Throughout the presentation, Johnson maintained that the most important part of a teacher’s day, regardless of how much time a teacher has in one class, is what the teacher chooses to do with their time in the classroom.

“The reason this is a topic at all is because for the last 18 months that I have been here, I have been asked ‘when are we going to be going back to a block schedule,” Johnson said.

The presentation noted that next steps would be determining schedule configuration, surveying student perceptions concerning block scheduling, developing a mock schedule, conducting information sessions with parents regarding the block schedule and beginning the schedule process. All those steps were to be complete by February.

Corbett said he thought that, “it’s a bit much for us to be taking on as we’re trying to become accredited and I don’t see the data that supports it and I wonder if we’re doing it to appease the teachers because they were the ones that voted for it.”

Farmville District Representative Dr. Lawrence C. Varner said he agreed with Corbett that he too was under the impression that it was only being discussed.

“As far as voting on it, when it came into being in 1995, I remember vividly reading The Farmville Herald about voting to go to the block,” Varner said. “When we went away from the block, the board voted to go away from the block. When we voted to go to this, I don’t know what we’d call it, this seven, eight, there’s been a couple, every year there has been a change the board had voted on the schedule so I don’t see how we can possibly, I guess it is possible, but why would we now decide to implement something without the board voting on it.”

Honeycutt said the scheduling was talked about starting next August.

“You won’t be on the board,” Corbett said.

“Does that matter?” Honeycutt said. “… I still want good things for the school.”

Corbett said he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing for the school.

Following that, Honeycutt asked Buffalo District Representative Dr. Wilkie Chaffin if he had any comment while Corbett was still speaking.

“Why would you interrupt me and redirect to him?” Corbett said.

“Because we have not heard from Dr. Chaffin tonight,” Honeycutt said.

Corbett said that they were having a conversation and it was strange that she would do that.

“That you would just cut me off and redirect to another person,” Corbett said.

No motion was made at the meeting regarding block scheduling.