October 2022 Issue

B4 Features Read
The Californian online a
New schedule
creates change
B-period and
later start
time adjusts
students’ days
Yining Xie
Staff Writer
The jury is still out on this
year’s new schedule.
Since Senate Bill 328 went
into effect to start the school
year on Aug. 10, many Cal
High students began their days
later with no classes being
offered earlier than 8:30 a.m.
Conversely, many students
are ending their days later too
because the extra A period that
used to be scheduled from 7:31-
8:30 a.m. has now been shifted
to the end of the day.
The optional seventh period,
now called B period, starts at
2:40 p.m. and runs until 3:41
p.m.
“Sometimes if you have to
do something after school, you
really don’t have much time
to do it,” sophomore Kaylie
Chang said.
Senate Bill 328, which was
signed into law in late 2019
and went into effect on July
1, requires all California high
schools to start no earlier than
8:30 a.m. and all middle schools
to start no earlier than 8 a.m.
This change was proposed
after three decades of scientific
research on teen health, sleep
patterns, and brain chemistry,
according to State Senator
Anthony J. Portantino, who
authored the bill.
As a result, Cal changed its
schedule to replace A period
with B period because any
classes offered before 8:30
a.m. would not count toward
graduation credit, according to
the new law.
Last year, nearly 700 of
Cal’s 2,800-plus students were
enrolled in classes offered during
the earlier period. This year,
only 509 students are enrolled
in classes offered at the end of
the day, according to school
enrollment figures.
Freshman Amiya Khosla
likes B period because she can
wait after school for her tennis
practice, which starts at 4 p.m.
“I did a B period because
practice starts at four, so I would
get to stay at school and not
go all the way home,” Khosla
said. “It works out very well
and I like it.”
But sophomore Hana Kim
said she despises B period, because
going home later means
that she pushes back the time she
starts her homework and goes to
bed. She feels like she is almost
falling asleep in all her classes
compared to just falling asleep
in A period last year.
“I always sleep later than
normal,” Kim said. “[So] I’m
sleeping in class because I’m
sleep-deprived.”
This is a problem facing
student athletes because sports
practice start times have been
pushed back to 4 p.m. to accommodate
students taking B
period.
Although some students live
close enough to campus to easily
go home after school and return
for practice, others don’t have
the luxury and are now forced to
wait around for practice to start.
“My house is too far away
to go home,” senior Asher
Coats said.
Coats said he is able to do
homework at that time, but
he preferred last year, when
practices started at 3:30 p.m.,
30 minutes after school ended.
Coats said he would immediately
change and go out to the
track compared to this year
where he has to wait more than
an hour at school before his
practice starts.
Some students who have
teacher meetings after school to
receive additional help are also
having issues if their teachers
have a B period. These students
cannot meet with their teachers
after school for help until
instruction time ends.
“It’s hard for them to visit
me after school because I’m
teaching a B period,” chemistry
teacher Ryan Hughes said.
The late start and swap of A
and B periods aren’t the only
changes to this year’s schedule.
Tutorial has been shortened by
10 minutes to 30 minutes and
is now offered after third and
fourth periods right before lunch
instead of at the end of first and
second periods.
There are also no more late
starts on Wednesdays. With
classes beginning at 8:30 every
day, students are being released
early on Wednesdays at 2:05
p.m. After this early release
time is when teachers have their
weekly meetings, instead of
before school on Wednesdays
like the previous year.
Lunch and brunch also were
shortened by five minutes so the
school day still follows rules.
San Ramon Valley Unified
School District teachers’ contract
states that they cannot
work on average more than
seven hours a day, said statistics
teacher Bob Allen, who helped
make the schedule. He said the
schedule went through multiple
drafts to make sure it followed
the new law and fit within teachers’
contracted hours.
Some students are still adjusting
to the shortened tutorial,
brunch and lunch breaks.
“Because tutorial is shorter,
it is harder for me to complete
stuff,” Kim said. “Lunch being
shorter, I don’t have time to go
to club meetings and eat lunch
after club meetings.”
Algebra 2 teacher Anthony
Khoo, however, likes the new
tutorial schedule better than the
previous year’s because it goes
straight into lunch and if the
students are willing, students
can stay longer during the lunch
period and make the tutorial
period longer.
“Teachers and students still
have the flexibility option for
the longer help period if you’re
willing to give up your lunch,”
Khoo said.
One change students and
teachers seem to like is the
new early release Wednesday,
which was added to make the
schedule more consistent and
create time for weekly teacher
meetings. Assistant Principal
Jeff Osborn said an informal
survey of students indicated
students liked being able to go
home early one day a week.
Students also like the consistency
of having school start
at 8:30 a.m. every day.
Chang said she doesn’t mind
the new schedule that much
because there is no more waking
up early, but she has found
it difficult volunteering at elementary
schools for California
Scholarship Federation because
her B period class ends so late.
Other students seem to like the
new schedule as well.
“It’s easier to get into a
routine and in terms of pick up
and drop off with my parents.”
sophomore Jasmine Young
said.
Teachers shared a similar
sentiment.
“I personally like it,” Khoo
said. “Just because now the
schedule is consistent Monday
through Friday.”
Students learn how to adjust and balance their busy schedules with new start times, longer tutorial perio
Changes in lunchtime procedures aim
Achintya Gupta
and Zaki Humayun
Staff Writers
Cal High is no Michelin Star
restaurant. It has long lines,
unknown chefs and odd milk.
But since the school year
has started, it has undergone
numerous changes.
California has become the
first state to provide free lunches
for every student after passing
the California Universal Meal
Program. Assembly Bill 130
was signed into law by Gov.
Gavin Newsom and went into effect
in the 2022-23 school year.
The $700 million program
funds a variety of free meals to
all students, plus upgrades to the
kitchen infrastructure.
Prior to this program, free
meals were available at Cal in
the 2021-22 school year as the
result of a preliminary statefunded
program that allocated
$650 million so the state could
provide students with free meals
during their first year back from
COVID-19 quarantine.
The school has also brought
back the old keypad system that
existed prior to COVID-19. This
system wasn’t used last school
year to prevent the spread of
physical contact on campus.
The implementation of the
keypad system is an abrupt
change to many, but administrators
believe it is necessary,
to keep track of the number of
meals being served.
“This is a state thing, so that’s
why we input [these rules] for
us,” said Elaine Esguerra, the
San Ramon Valley Unified
School District child nutrition
manager. “To be able to provide
free meals for the students, we
need to account for how many
students we are serving.”
Because of these new rules,
the wait time and the length of
lunch lines have increased leading
many students to complain
about not getting a school lunch
on time or at all.
“I haven’t actually gotten
lunch for the past three days,
because they keep running out,
so I just get a milk carton,”
junior Maheen Shafi said.
The system also led to severe
congestion of students in the
commons trying to get food.
“The keypads are fine but
it would be better if they
could make a faster way [to
get lunch],” freshman Akshay
Madivanan said.
Then, improvements were