The committee commissioned to make modifications or find alternatives to West Seattle High's block schedule have decided that a consensus cannot be reached and will instead present position papers to the district by its Friday (June 29) deadline.

Brad Bernatek, chair of the parent and staff committee, said a few weeks ago that he was confident an agreement could be reached.

"I was being optimistic," he admitted.

But disagreement between staff and a group of parents who oppose the school's four-period day system persisted.

Another major roadblock was developing hybrid schedules to discuss and compare at depth. The committee formed in January and last month still had no mock schedules to study.

The committee would have benefited from a core-working group that focused on building schedules, Bernatek said.

Time was another issue. The group met just twice monthly for an hour-and-a-half.

"We may have been able to come to a consensus," he said. "The issue is complex. There just wasn't enough time to turn the corner and get everyone on the same page."

But parents said a consensus among the committee was never likely since there was a disparity in staff versus parent representation, with 12 staff members and just five parents. Most staff openly favored the current system, parents said.

"The process was dysfunctional...we were doomed from the beginning, although parents did come to the table with open minds ready to work and tried very hard," said Nancy Swenson, a parent committee member. "The district dropped the ball."

The district never provided a comparison of a general education and college bound student under the four-period day and six-period day, information necessary to the committee's charge, Swenson said.

West Seattle High's Principal Bruce Bivins said everyone on the committee was given an opportunity to voice their opinion, but in the end, they just couldn't come together.

"The bottom line is that we all want the same for our children, a quality educational experience that prepares students for life beyond high school," Bivins said. "We needed to have a commitment of a common vision supported by facts, outcomes and experience, rather then relying heavily on opinion and opposing view points."

Also, from the start there seemed to be some confusion about the charge of the committee.

A directive from the Seattle School Board stated the group should work to provide some shorter periods within the current schedule or return to a six-period day with blocked classes.

Later, a clarification letter from Seattle school's chief academic officer Carla Santorno, the district official who convened the committee, restated the group's aim.

Santorno's letter told the committee to create a modified version of the block system to include some shorter periods, or retain the current schedule providing certain conditions are met: two years of continuous and sequential math coursework for all ninth and tenth graders, as well as yearlong world language and music classes for all grades.

Some think that sets the bar too low and don't like the idea of students attempting to digest four years' of math in the first two years of high school.

Bernatek, special assistant to Santorno, maintained that the board mandate doesn't "prescribe or preclude any particular schedule" and is not in conflict with Santorno's clarification.

Continuity between core subject courses is one major issue with the four-period day. It can leave gaps of up to one year between math classes, for instance. Some parents also don't like that class sizes are 8 percent larger and the fact that there are fewer hours of instruction per credit than at schools with six periods.

But the majority of staff and administration favor the school's 13-year-old block schedule, said Bivins. The longer class periods allow more individual attention as well as ample time for project-based activities and labs.

"The conversation should not be about how we structure the day, but about how we instruct during the day," Bivins said. "...There is no one-size-fits-all model of structuring a school day, and West Seattle High. is a unique, academically challenging, and successfully proven option for students."

Academic achievement has also been a key part of the debate.

Parents have concluded that the school's Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores aren't as impressive as other schools in the district. But the district points to a steady five-year improvement in state test scores.

Bernatek expects a group of parents to submit an argument for returning to the six-period day, while staff and other parents will likely present a plan that reflects Santorno's directive.

The position papers will be reviewed during the next few weeks and Santorno should make a decision sometime over the summer.

But the schedule is only one facet of the discussion, Bernatek added. Teaching quality, professional development and curriculum are other important elements affected by scheduling.

"High school scheduling is a bit of a black art," Bernatek said. "There are pros and cons on both sides (of the four-period day and the six-period day)."

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com