By Alex Ruiz, Daniel Panorelli, Leviathan Aguilar, Bailey Thomas, Staff Writers, Isabel Arguelles, Entertainment Editor
Sitting in a plastic chair for six hours with few breaks in between is the daily routine of students on the El Camino block schedule.
Students throughout the day have four breaks from their classes.
Lunch is the longest section of break time, lasting for 30 minutes. The problem is that students don’t have enough time in those 30 minutes to get their food or to rest for their next periods.
The school encourages students to be involved in sports and clubs which means most students have things they do after school, making it difficult for the day to end later. A California law that went into effect last year requires high school to start at 8:30 a.m. so school can’t start any earlier.
The passing periods don’t help this issue either, as they’re only five minutes long. Teachers recommend going to the bathroom and getting water during this break, but it is very difficult to get to class on time, leading to tardies, especially if a student’s class is across the campus from bathrooms or water fountains. Additionally, students aren’t allowed to leave the classroom for the first 15 minutes of class.
Teachers have reported many students getting to their class and immediately asking to use the restroom because they don’t have enough time or the bathrooms are too crowded—which is a very real problem. And, many bathrooms are locked at lunch.
Del Campo, Casa Roble and other schools in the San Juan district end at 3:30 instead of 3:23. If EC extended the day seven minutes, those minutes could be split between the passing periods between first and second period and third and fourth period.
This added time would allow teachers and students to take care of their needs without being late to class. It would also allow students more time to take a break from sitting.
In order for the bell schedule to be altered, teachers at EC would need to vote for the change. They should.
An additional seven minutes added to the schedule would be the best solution for bathroom breaks, water, tardies and missed class time.
The Eagle Eye Newspaper 