In communication arts teacher Justin Bogart’s Blue II AP Literature and Composition class, giving students individual attention used to not be a problem — he had 23 students first semester. When second semester began and many seniors switched to having shortened-day schedules, the class gained five students for a total of 28, and helping individual students became harder.

This is the fourth year seniors have had the chance to have a shortened-day schedule for second semester, and nearly half of all seniors chose to go shortened day this year — more than any time in the past.

For Bogart, this makes it harder to do his job as a teacher.

“Providing individual attention … becomes difficult,” Bogart said.

GOING SHORTENED DAY

Seniors who want to go shortened day must have passed all of their first semester classes, not need to recover any credits and still be on track to graduate with their shortened schedule. They must be in good standing with the school, have all fees paid and have all books turned in. Their kept classes should be in sequential order.

Seniors who do Kansas State High School Activities Association activities must attend school for at least five classes (discounting seminar and any pass/fail classes). Seniors who are in audition-based, application-based or Ed-Tech classes cannot drop those classes.

In addition to this, the application to go shortened day requires seniors to write a paragraph about why changing to a shortened-day schedule would benefit them. A parent must then sign the application, indicating that going shortened day would indeed benefit the senior.

Senior Ben Kelm decided to go shortened day because he didn’t see a necessity for all of the classes on his schedule, he wanted more time to study and he planned to take a class through Johnson County Community College. Now, he has five classes and a seminar — more than the average shortened-day senior, who has 4.62 classes.

“There were some classes that I felt I didn’t need to be taking,” Kelm said. “The prospect of having some more time for school work was good.”

CLASS SIZE VARIATION

When seniors go shortened day and rework their schedules, many year-long classes change in size at second semester. For senior Kate Schau, a student in Bogart’s Blue II AP Literature and Composition class, the resulting class size inequality isn’t beneficial.

“My English class was smaller and now it’s huge,” Schau said. “It’s really annoying because now I feel like I have to shout to say anything.”

Junior Olivia Fox’s situation is opposite Schau’s — her Physics class lost some seniors who went shortened day.

“We have a whole empty row in the back now,” Fox said. “It’s good because we get more one-on-one time with the teacher.”

However, smaller classes have hindered some. After having 43 seniors in his Sociology of Community Service classes first semester, social studies teacher Cory Wurtz now only has 18.

“It’s affected the people that they serve,” Wurtz said. “I was unable to take a group to the food kitchen in January because of numbers. There’s going to be less people that get support that’s needed.”

For math teacher Jessica DeWild, class sizes vary year to year.

“Last year, my morning classes were humongous and my afternoon classes were small,” DeWild said. “There was probably a 10-student differential. [This year], I was pleasantly surprised when my numbers stayed the same.”

Counselor Trish Chandler said the classes affected by shortened day may be different each year, but overall, she doesn’t notice a large effect.

“I don’t see [class sizes] being any huge difference,” Chandler said. “No matter what I do … there’ll probably always be some situation.”

SCHOOL-WIDE EFFECTS

Last year, shortened-day seniors also affected attendance of groups like SLT. SLT sponsor Erin Hayes said that changed this year.

“So far, it hasn’t been bad,” Hayes said. “A lot of them come back, check in and attend, which is different than last year.”

NHS sponsor Kristen Chavez said while the same has been true for NHS, she has also been willing to accommodate to some seniors.

“Most of the kids … still get up and come to meetings,” Chavez said. “I’ve had a couple of kids just say, ‘hey, can I come to the after-school meetings?’ and I’m OK with that.”

Chavez notices an impact on school spirit by not having as many seniors in the building at once.

“From a school culture viewpoint, it kind of lessens the impact of the seniors,” Chavez said. “It does take away from school spirit.”

POINTS TO CONSIDER

In Kelm’s view, seniors who will use their shortened day productively shouldn’t worry about the effects of their decision on the school.

“I think that for seniors who use this time to get a job or take community college classes, then they need to use this time to do what’s best for them,” Kelm said.

For Fox, who is considering shortened day for next year so she can work more, class offerings also play into the decision.

“It’s kind of like a senior privilege,” Fox said. “If you have all of your credits, you shouldn’t have to take extra fluff classes.”

OTHER POLICIES

Some school districts don’t have a shortened-day policy. According to Shawnee Mission school district assistant superintendent of communication Leigh Anne Neal, the Shawnee Mission district does not offer shortened days to seniors. Instead, a senior can graduate early, although this is not recommended.

If Mill Valley took away its shortened-day policy, Chandler said it would negatively affect class sizes.

“Classes would definitely be tight,” Chandler said. “Electives would definitely be very crowded.”

To minimize the effects of shortened-day seniors on class sizes, Bogart suggested the school prepare more in advance for seniors wanting to go shortened day.

“We need to be able to anticipate this a lot better,” Bogart said. “We just have to have a sense of who’s eligible for this … we’ve created a lot of work for ourselves.”