After returning to school on March 1st, under a shorter bell schedule, for the first time all year, WJCC announced that effective March 15th, schools would return back to the full day bell schedule. This meant that classes would now be 100 minutes long and students would be eating in the school instead of going home for lunch. Many believe this happened because parents of younger students were pushing for it.

Though WJCC is trying their best to please everyone, teachers as well as students feel they aren’t keeping the students in mind when making all of these huge changes. During a time that is already stressful enough for students and teachers, they were given only two weeks to adjust to the shorter bell schedule and then just as everyone got used to it, they switched it up and went back to the full day schedule. 

After speaking with Lafayette High School senior Emily Sullivan, it can be confirmed that more than a few people aren’t too happy with the switch to the longer bell schedule.  “As a student who has been doing online school for the entirety of my senior year so far, I’m already enough stressed and overwhelmed with everything and we were just getting used to the shorter schedule then they changed it causing me and most other students even more stress,” Sullivan said.  “Its just really not fair to the students or the teachers. We are already under so much pressure this year and I thought things were going very well with the short bell schedule and don’t think it was necessary to change it.” 

Now there are even rumors that students will be sent back to school 4 days a week on the full day bell schedule–like anyone needs that right now!  Students are completely drained and overwhelmed. They need a break and the school board isn’t cutting them or the teachers any slack. Imagine going to school or being a teacher during this time in our country. Teachers are doing their best and so are the students but every time they turn the corner, the school board has made another change and there is just no time for anyone to take a breath. 

Sullivan also mention that “lunch was honestly just stupid because what’s the point of sitting 2 or 3 seats away from someone if you’re sitting directly across from someone else.” She also said, “The way they did it just isn’t even effective and it’s also not fair that we have to sit in assigned zones, like I’m a senior in high school and I don’t even get to eat lunch with my friends?” She brought up the idea that as a senior privilege since besides painting their parking spots, there aren’t any, that seniors should be able to eat their lunch in their car if they have one. Sullivan said, “We could sign out in the main office and then have to sign back in or there would be a consequence to make sure no one is leaving, and it would have less people in the upper commons therefore making it safer to be eating with no mask on.”

In conclusion, it can be said that though WJCC was trying to do the right thing and satisfy everyone, they ended up causing so much unnecessary stress and anxiety to not only the students but the teachers as well. This whole year has already been very overwhelming and just a mess so the least the school board could do was stop switching everything up.