At its April 19 meeting, the school board listened to presentations from several parents concerning block scheduling, opened the Lady Bulldogs’ head basketball coaching position and made curriculum changes for the 2012-2013 school year, including the discontinuation of Senior Seminar. Presentations in support of block scheduling were made by parents Mrs. Rose DeWeese, Mrs. Carol-Lynn Dubovi and Mr. Andrew Kiefer. Each parent brought different points to the board’s attention in order to advocate block scheduling. Several speakers criticized the administration and teachers’ union for being unable to reach an agreement concerning the approved time of a planning period. In each teacher’s signed contract, there is a promised duty-free planning period. Teachers have begun fulfilling duties within the school at the beginning of the scholastic year, including holding study halls and monitoring lunch periods. Teachers filed a grievance with their union, stating that such tasks violate the contract. “We’re in the fifth year of a contract, and the previous four years, we got one full block, and then things changed this year,” Mr. Ed Shepherd, the president of Freedom’s teachers’ union, said. Teachers’ current duties span approximately 42 minutes every other day, which means the average planning period lasts about 64 minutes. The district believes teachers’ completion of such duties is not a contractual violation. According to DeWeese, “Every one of these kids have become a pawn in the power struggle” between the union and the district concerning the contractual issue. Dubovi voiced similar opinions with her presentation, claiming the district should “keep [students] at the center” of the decision-making process. “We’re hoping to be able to work it out,” Superintendent Dr. Sofo said. “We offered… concessions to the contract in order to preserve the block scheduling,” Mr. Shepherd said. The Lady Bulldogs’ varsity coach was also on the board’s agenda; after a vote, the board decided to reopen the position. At the March board meeting, several parents and players appealed to the board on both sides of the issue. This wasn’t the only change enacted by the school board during Thursday’s meeting; Senior Seminar, a class introduced this school year, will be combined with Freshman Seminar for the 2013-2014 school year, according to Principal Dr. Staub. The new course, Junior Seminar, will encompass key effective components of the previous courses, according to Dr. Staub. “The junior year is a very critical year,” Dr. Staub said. In addition to this, Honors Physics, Introduction to Performing Arts and World Cultures will no longer be offered. World Cultures, due to the new Pennsylvania Keystone Exams that will be required in the future, will now become a world history course. Lastly, the school board approved the incorporation of cyber periods. During this time, teachers will be responsible for cyber education as part of their teaching day. “We think the best way moving forward is to actually schedule a core teacher a teaching period that they become the teacher on record for a respective cyber course,” Dr. Staub said.