This year some students have been stuck in study halls they don’t want or shut out of classes they are passionate about taking.
Senior Carmen Lahti was in this situation for the first week of school.
“I had three study halls and no Spanish, no biology, and no theater,” said Lahti. “Those are three classes I really wanted to take.”
LHS counselor Teresa Hytowitz said the scheduling problems stem from increased enrollment and limited class availability.
“We’ve grown a lot, which is great, but it’s also a challenge. Certain classes are only offered once or twice a day, and when they fill up, students are left with study halls or have to drop electives they’re passionate about,” she said.
According to Vice Principal Maude Lamont, 100 more students forecasted to join Lincoln than the previous year.
“This increase really puts a strain on the master schedule,” said Lamont. Lamont explained that with limited teachers and class size limits, the school has had to work around teacher class limits and a lack of funding for hiring new teachers.
“Our budget is stretched and we are trying to get new teachers in, but we can’t without the funds,” said Lamont.
In order to help with the influx of students, smaller class periods are being combined into larger classes so that teachers can take on more class periods in the day.
“My English class was recently combined with another period, just in the interest of having one larger class instead of two small ones,” said senior Oliver Terret. “It’s a bit annoying because it changes my entire schedule, but also I understand and I want everyone to be able to meet their graduation requirements.”
More seniors taking full schedules have also affected class availability.
“We are seeing more seniors with a full schedule,” said Lamont. “In previous years more seniors would take early dismissal and late arrival.”
Hytowitz thinks that some students don’t understand how their schedules are built. She said that forecasting for a class isn’t a guarantee of enrollment. This lack of understanding by the student body often leads to frustration on both sides.
“It’s hard when a student emails us [counselors] saying, ‘I didn’t get any of the classes I wanted,’ and they don’t know how complicated the process really is,” said Hytowitz.
Students were able to schedule times to meet with their counselors until Sept. 18 to try and get their schedule problems fixed.
After working closely with counselors and teachers, Lahti was able to adjust her schedule.
“It took a week of switching things around, and it was frustrating. It felt like a lot of hoops to jump through just to get the classes I needed,” Lahti said. “It’s been rough, but I’m just glad I finally got the classes I needed with help from counselors and teachers, even if it took a while.”
