With a schedule beginning the school day at 8:35 a.m. and ending at 3:45 p.m., Westview has a school day length of 7 hours and 10 minutes. All Poway Unified high schools have the same length. PUSD schools are the only high schools in San Diego County to exceed a 7-hour school day (except for the Sweetwater Union High School District, which also has a school day length of 7 hours 10 minutes). The state of California requires 64,800 instructional minutes per year (mandated by California Education Code, section 47612.5). As is, we exceed that number by 1,311 minutes. That is nearly a full 24 hours.

Fine Arts teacher Keith Opstad has compiled a presentation, currently undergoing community and Poway Federation of Teachers (PFT) review, that proposes our school day end 10 minutes earlier, at 3:35. He said this may be accomplished by shortening our lunch period from 35 minutes (34 on Wednesdays) to the minimum 30 minutes as mandated by the PFT Contract Section VIII, and reducing the number of minutes in each period. He also argued that although it is helpful for the school district to exceed the minimum instructional minutes per year by around 500, which would prevent the need to extend the school year in case of emergencies that interrupt normal school hours, anything beyond that number is excessive.

We support his suggestion to shorten the school day because we see no need for Poway Unified high schools to continue with a school day that is longer than most other schools in San Diego County. Additionally, students could experience multiple benefits from the slightly earlier release time.

High school students currently face many stresses when it comes to balancing homework, extracurricular activities, and other daily life demands. Many students find it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance due to these demands and the lack of time after school to complete assignments and attend activities. Our school schedule should not only provide plenty of instructional time, but also help students feel less overwhelmed by supporting a healthier balance between work and down time. Cutting 10 minutes from the school day is a step towards that.

Furthermore, according to Athletic Assistant Charlotte Isbister, 61% of Westview students are athletes this year. Many athletes leave their fourth period classes early to make it on time to practices and games that aren’t aligned with the school schedule. The majority of the student population who are athletes would especially benefit from a shortened day, since they would miss 10 minutes less of fourth period classes than they currently do. This missed in-class instruction can be significant and currently leads many athletes to elect for an off-roll fourth period.

Some may argue that shortening the school day may decrease students’ academic achievement due to fewer minutes spent being instructed. However, a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that there is no direct correlation between longer school days and higher academic achievement. Instead, other factors like classroom environment, quality of instruction, and student ability correlate much more clearly with academic performance. Therefore, decreasing the length of the school day should not have an adverse effect on student achievement.

Although we see Opstad’s proposed schedule adjustment as an overall positive change, we recognize that there are valid reasons for community and staff members to have doubts about its benefits. For example, there could be issues with bus scheduling if this change is implemented since Westview’s schedule is strategically timed to eliminate conflicts with Mesa Verde’s and other PUSD schools’ bus schedules. However, we think that this proposal overall poses more opportunities for students, staff, and community members to reap benefits than losses. Therefore, we urge our school and district administrators to consider this proposed schedule adjustment for the students when planning for the next 2023-2024 school year.