Katherine Aguilar remembers standing in the cold with more than one hundred other students outside the offices of Sweetwater Union High School District last January.
Aguilar, a senior at Chula Vista High School, and her peers were asking school board members to reconsider their decision to cut back the number of classes that students at the school can take as part of their regular schedule. It’s a change Aguilar and others worry will hurt the school’s legendary arts program and limit students’ opportunities to explore their passions.
On Monday night, just over a year later, she and dozens of other students were back outside the district offices asking for the same thing.
“I cannot stop talking about how frustrated I am,” Aguilar said in an interview with KPBS as the board's regular meeting was getting underway. “We just want to know why it is that (they’re) making these decisions without any students having a say.”
Over the last year, Chula Vista High students have pushed back repeatedly against the board's decision to alter the format of their schedule.
Since 2016, the west Chula Vista school has given its students the option to take eight classes during the regular schedule. That works by spreading out those class periods over two school days. Students take just four classes each day and get to spend more time with each period.
But this year, the district is planning for Chula Vista High to revert back to the more traditional six-period schedule where students are limited to six classes during regular school hours and take all of them every day.
Like at most other high schools, administrators still plan to offer students the option to come in early or stay late for zero or seventh period classes.
Students have argued passionately against the changes. Many credit the eight-period schedule format with helping them develop their interests, explore new arts and sports, dive deep into specific subjects and grow their confidence.
Aguilar has been able to take six Advanced Placement classes this year, gathering an arsenal of college credit.
“(It) put me in a completely different spot,” she said. “I had so many new doors open.”
After the protest outside the district offices last year, district officials suspended any changes and convened a working group to evaluate data related to the eight-period schedule format.
But in late November, Chula Vista High Principal Jennifer Barker-Heinz announced they would be moving forward with those schedule cuts after “thoughtful evaluation of school-wide data.”
In a letter obtained by KPBS, Barker-Heinz said only half of Chula Vista High students were actually enrolled in the full eight classes. The other half, she said, file waivers to take six or seven periods.
Barker-Heinz did not cite any other specific statistics related to the schedule. In December, district officials declined to answer further questions about the working group’s findings.
The district is also moving forward with similar schedule changes at Southwest High School, the only other school in the district with an eight-period schedule.
Meanwhile, students continue to protest in various ways. Last week, hundreds of Chula Vista High students walked out of class and gathered on the soccer field.
The planned schedule changes are set to take effect this coming fall.
