Bartholomew Consolidated School Board members will hear an update on the district’s block schedule proposal at its April 8 meeting.
The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at Columbus North High School.
BCSC presented its proposal for a block schedule to school board members during the board’s March 4 meeting. A block schedule means students would alternate different classes between two days with longer class periods. Teachers would also have a planning period built into the schedule each week.
Columbus East High School sophomore Emilee Whipker has created a petition to “end BCSC block scheduling proposition.” Whipker said in an earlier interview she plans to deliver the petition to school board members at the April 8 meeting.
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The petition had just over 800 signatures as of Tuesday, with Whipker saying in an earlier interview she hoped to have 1,000 signatures before the April 8 meeting. There is no designation on the online petition platform at Change.org whether all who have signed it are affiliated with BCSC schools or whether they are connected to any of the three high schools that would be affected in Columbus.
Superintendent Jim Roberts said BCSC supports any student’s desire to ask questions, challenge or attempt to become a part of the process when a decision is being made.
“With Emilee, we are glad she is taking it upon herself and utilizing others to try to help with the decision-making process,” Roberts said. “From a school corporation standpoint, we should be proud of the fact we have developed students who are interested in the decisions the school is making and feel confident enough to find ways to go about that process.”
He said he hopes and thinks the district’s internal structure is a good place to start, encouraging students to seek answers and request change through conversation with their school administrators.
“There’s an internal structure built in for students, parents, community members and staff members to utilize that to voice concerns and express challenges to things that might be going on,” Roberts said.
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What: Bartholomew Consolidated School Board meeting
When: 6 p.m. April 8
Where: Columbus North High School
For more information: bcsc.k12.in.us
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