Inside: Opinions on the North Idaho Christian School New Time Plan
Inside: Opinions on the North Idaho Christian School New Time Plan
Segment by: Zachary Koontz,4/28/17
There are rumors floating around that NICS is planning to implement a new high school-wide time change. This is, so far, true. If nothing changes, the plan will be starting next year, North Idaho Christian School is planning to increase the length of the school day due to the accredited school time requirements. The two options are: ten minutes added to the beginning of each day or an extra whole Friday once a quarter. I asked some NICS students and teachers what they thought.
One student, when approached about this topic stated, “I would prefer 10 minutes before every day, because who wants to come in on a [Friday]?” A number of students agreed with this opinion, but there were a few who said it would be better to go to school on a Friday four times a year, rather than having to get up earlier. “Four extra days versus five, or how ever many minutes a day? I’d prefer to get it all done at once,” says sophomore Elisabeth Empey. Cross Pilgrim said, “I would rather spend an extra four Fridays of the year instead of having to be up earlier every morning.” Even a few of the elementary and junior high school students got in on the conversation and gave me some of their opinions. “Why don’t we just add a few days at the end of school, before summer?” Josh Colby commented. A junior high student pointed out, “With the ten minutes before school, a teacher is less likely to assign homework than on a full Friday, because that’s what matters, right?” It was looking like the school was pretty much split between the two options.
Furthermore, I asked a parent of one of the students here at NICS what he thought, and he said, “As a parent who has to drive every day, it would be easier to have ten minutes before each day. Plus, those Fridays off are a nice bonus, and allows for more family time.”
However, school IT supervisor and teacher, Matt Schug, had a different solution entirely.
“Here’s my thought,” he said, “Why don’t we come in every Friday? We could shorten the length of the school day, and students would have more time for homework, sleep, and extracurricular activities, such as sports. We could come in 10 minutes earlier every day, Monday through Friday, and be out by one o’clock, according to my calculations.” We may see more of this plan in the future if Mr. Schug brings it to the board.
What everyone votes for, and what the NICS school board decides remains to be seen. For the time being, many opinions and new suggestions have been circulating around the school, and it’s up to the consensus to determine what will happen as of the 2017-2018 school year. No matter what happens, something will change to meet the requirements by next year.