Timpview principal to decide schedule

PROVO — The principal at Timpview High School must decide in the next week whether to change class schedules from a seven-period day to a "block schedule" with eight classes that alternate over two days.

About 70 parents, teachers and administrators met Tuesday to discuss scheduling problems Provo's two high schools have faced in recent years because of a lack of money for a lot of classes with low numbers of students.

With the amount of money allocated to the high schools, the student-teacher ratio for the district's high schools will increase from 27.7 students to 28 students next year. In reality, however, most classes have about 32 students, Timpview Principal George Bayles said.

Compounding the problem, the State Board of Education has added new requirements for graduation — a financial literacy class and more classes in math, science and social studies.

That means the school will have even less money for more required classes, thus prompting talks of a change to a new schedule that would accommodate the required classes with the number of student and faculty in the high school.

Timpview High, which has about 1,700 students, could see a 50-student drop in enrollment next year. It could possibly dip as low as 1,580 by 2008.

State per-pupil funding drops with student population. If the enrollment drop is as projected next year, Timpview High School must cut three full-time teaching positions. One of those is the American Sign Language teacher, so the school will discontinue that program. The other two positions have not been decided.

"Everything else is up in the air," Bayles said. "It depends on what kind of schedule we do."

The district's other high school, Provo High, began a block schedule four years ago. Yet it also faces budget, required-class and student-teacher-ratio challenges

"It's breaking the system," said Carolyn Wright, a member of the Board of Education.

For at least the past five years, Timpview has been on probation with the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools because some of the teachers have more than 160 students — the limit for its seven-period schedule.

"They'll notify you and say, 'Your numbers are too high' and they'll put you on advise status," Bayles said.

The principal said he is not concerned that the school will immediately lose accreditation, a process by which schools are evaluated based on various education standards. State law requires public high schools be accredited.

"The root of the problem is we're not getting money from the state Legislature," said biology teacher Alan Myrup. "Parents, aim at our Legislature."

Parents hope to pressure district officials into lowering the student-teacher ratio with publicity proceeding June's bond and leeway election, in which the district will ask voters to accept a property tax hike for new buildings and other ongoing costs.

District officials will seek voter approval of a $35 million bond issuance and a $1.5 million increase to the voted leeway.

School board member Sue Curtis said that money is tight across the district.

"I would love for you to go down and sit through the budget" planning, she said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com