By Uy Pham
Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) adopted a new bell schedule. This new bell schedule differed from the schedule of the previous school year in several ways including a delayed start and end time, extended period lengths and the implementation of an official Barons All Together (BAT) time on Mondays.
According to the 2018-2021 agreement between the District’s Education Association and the Board of Trustees of the Huntington Beach Union High School District, the process to develop a bell schedule consists of two committees: the Bell Schedule Process Committee, which determines the needed schedules and when votes take place, and the Bell Schedule Committee, which creates schedules based on California Education Code requirements.
“The first [requirement] is that no school can have a first period that starts at 8:30,” Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction Jon Hurst said. “We still offer a zero period [which] doesn’t count towards a student’s overall instructional minutes for the day, but they still get credit for going to that class.”
The start time originates from Senate Bill (SB) 328, which requires that high schools start no earlier than 8:30. According to a letter signed by various medical experts addressed to Governor Gavin Newsom, later start times would help students get more sleep and avoid sleep deprivation.
“I understand the intention behind [the later start time],” Hurst said. “I also don’t know how many students take advantage of that because I know some students are probably just staying up a bit later. I don’t know if it’s working or not yet, [but] I can tell you I understand why it was implemented to begin with.”
For some Barons, the change in start time has had little effect on their sleep schedules.
“I could stay up later; however, the amount of sleep I was getting generally stayed the same. [The change] impacted me negatively because my schedule just shifted to a later time,” sophomore Katelyn Nguyen said.
However, other students see improvements in their sleep schedule.
“I think [my sleep schedule] improved because I have a zero period, and I go to sleep earlier now, around 11 p.m. or sometimes later though,” sophomore Sarah Nguyen said. “Compared to last year, I wouldn’t have to wake up super early if [zero period began at 7 a.m.]”
Another requirement from the California Education Code, SB 98, states that students must receive at least 240 instructional minutes everyday.
“Every student has to have a minimum of 240 instructional minutes after 8:30, [which means if] they have a zero period [in our current bell schedule], they can go [periods] one through four,” Hurst said. “Breaks do not count towards instructional minutes, but passing periods do. [BAT time] does [count] because it is attached to second period.”
The zero period through fourth-period schedule is possible due to an extension of period lengths from 50 minutes to 56 minutes. For some juniors and seniors, taking a zero period allows them to take the minimum of five classes required and meet the 240 instructional minutes before lunch. As a result, these students have the opportunity to leave school at lunch and pursue other commitments.
According to Hurst, students were still able to meet the 240 instructional minute requirement with 50-minute periods last year since SB 328 was not in effect. Therefore, zero period minutes previously counted towards instructional time; however, periods had to be extended to meet the instructional time before lunch.
For students, the option to leave school at lunch has been beneficial towards their commitments.
“I have a hybrid fifth, but yes, being able to leave before lunch is a big stress reliever. It allows me to study and do homework on my own time,” junior Ibrahim Habibeh said. “It also has helped with early board meetings and the internship work I am doing right now.”
Getting out at lunch also helps some students to meet their social and personal needs.
“It’s helpful because you don’t have to stay for lunch, and you can eat whatever you want without rush,” senior Keith Bui said. “It definitely gives me more time for homework, hanging out with friends and enjoying my hobbies.”
Although FVHS’s bell schedule allows juniors and seniors taking zero through fourth periods to leave earlier, extending periods results in later ending times, affecting other students’ schedules and sleep times.
“It’s leaving me with less time to do homework [before] my out-of-school events, Boy Scouts and karate classes, [but] sometimes I’ve had to leave [homework] until afterwards,” sophomore Benjamin Buckhurst said. “I end up going to sleep later, sometimes even past midnight.”
Another reason for meeting the instructional time before lunch was the benefit to athletes. For athletes on the zero through fourth-period schedule, this change has helped them complete their individual workouts without delay and have more time to prepare for athletic events without missing class.
“It has helped me be able to get home faster, relax and do homework before I workout,” senior cross-country runner Nova Dias said.
However, for athletes with a fifth period, later end times result in the same start time for outside-of-school sports but later practice ending times for school practices.
“I have less time to do homework because school gets pushed back [but] my swim practice doesn’t,” senior Yen Dang said. “I only have one to two hours to do homework, then I am at the pool [until] 8 p.m. Then, I end up having to stay up past 12 a.m.”
In addition, athletes miss more instruction time compared to last year due to the later bell schedule.
“Last year, we were out of fifth [period] at 1:27 [p.m.]; this year we are out at 2:25 [p.m.]. Last year for a 3:00 [p.m.] game, we did not have to get out early, maybe 15 minutes,” FVHS Athletic Director Roger Holmes said. “Athletes have to miss 30 [to] 45 minutes of fifth period to be ready [since most] athletic events are starting at the same time as last year.”
Although some students can complete their individual workouts earlier, the bell schedule delays when team practices can occur.
“It’s not great for athletes when they have to leave for a game because you’re having to [miss] that classroom environment,” math teacher and girls’ basketball coach Marianne Karp said. “[Seniors] could leave during lunch, but they still have to… come back for practice. What is really difficult is not just the seniors [but] underclassmen [are on the team], so you still can’t have practice until everybody’s out of class.”
Longer periods offer another change for students and teachers: additional instructional time per class. Science teacher and Department Coordinator Lehua Werdel agrees that the increase in period length has been beneficial.
“I find that students are able to complete all class activities and properly clean up with much less stress. I [can] use more time reviewing content, [and] some of my colleagues have also commented that they are integrating review [or] warm-up activities with the extra five minutes [to] get to know their students,” Werdel said. “On test days, students have extra time to complete assessments and review answers before submitting, [decreasing] the stress associated with test taking.”
However, other teachers have concerns with how this bell schedule differs with other high schools in the area.
“[The extra minutes] is not beneficial. [The longer time] is not helping [students] academically, but also hurting them socially, workwise and athletically. As a student in [FVHS], you’re potentially [at school] somewhere between half an hour or more than every other school district,” English teacher Steve Schultz said. “It bothers me and a lot of teachers [that] we were told those [extra] minutes were mandatory, and we find out that many other schools have much shorter minutes.”
Marina High School and Los Amigos High School share a similar schedule with FVHS with a zero period and 240 instructional minutes before lunch.
Ocean View High School and Huntington Beach High School utilize a block schedule. At Ocean View, students would have to stay through fifth period, which ends at 2:24 p.m., and at Huntington Beach, fifth period ends after lunch at 1:26 p.m.
At Edison High School and Westminster High School, the bell schedules do not offer a zero period, but students also do not meet the 240-minute requirements before lunch due to 50-minute periods. As a result, students would have to stay after lunch to complete the 240 instructional minutes. Fifth period ends at 1:13 p.m. and 1:49 p.m., respectively, later than when some FVHS students can leave school at lunch. However, FVHS’s fifth period ends at 2:25 p.m.
“There’s a lot of upheaval and turmoil right now because we weren’t given accurate information. The bell schedule needs to be redone because it’s a disservice to students and to employees,” Schultz said. “[For employees] to be paid the same as other schools but work extra… it’s not fair to students to be in school an extra 45 minutes everyday when no one else in the same district has to.”
Despite the frustration of some students and teachers, the bell schedule is not going to change this year or the next.
“For the rest of this school year, it would be impossible to change the regular bell schedule. We’re just coming together to discuss if we can remove the break on Mondays. If the committee of teachers decides they want to revisit [the schedule, then] we will put together a new bell schedule, vote and potentially have a new bell schedule,” Hurst said. “If that doesn’t happen, then we would have this current schedule for four years.”
As Barons adjust to the changes in the new bell schedule, Hurst understands the impact the changes have on students. However, he is hopeful for what the future holds for Barons.
“I do agree that the day being longer is more difficult on everybody right now because we’re transitioning… The students are very resilient [and] have the ability to adapt and overcome,” Hurst said. “I’m very proud of our students for managing and doing the best they can given the situation. It shows how strong we are as a campus and as a community [and] no matter what happens we’re going to do the best we can for the kids.”
