WEST BRANCH — Repetition and daily contact versus longer periods and an academic center allowing for additional instruction time – which choice will better prepare students for life beyond graduation and ensure a well-rounded education?

That’s what the West Branch-Rose City Board of Education will have to decide in the near future.

Ogemaw Heights High School Principal David Walby, on Jan. 18, presented the benefits of switching from the school’s current block schedule, which places students in certain classes for about 90 minutes a day on alternating days. The current schedule also includes a daily 115-minutes period called Academic Center (AC), which allows students to meet with specific teachers and gain instructional time for a subject giving them trouble.

Walby told the board that the state has moved away from encouraging a focus on less content on an in depth level, which caters to block scheduling.

“Now, the state said ‘we want to cover more content a little shallower,” Walby said. He added that six-hour days would allow for roughly 110 minutes of additional instructional time per course every two weeks, or 33 more hours per year.

One teacher in attendance, Doug Greseszak, said shorter periods with more frequent contact worked in the past.

“I used to get so much more done in 48 minute periods that I could ever get done in 90 minute blocks,” he said. “My kids used to get 10 to 15 minutes a day, everyday, to work on their homework. “We need to see our kids everyday,” he added.

However, board members had their concerns about Walby’s proposal.

“I just think it’s very, very important to have AC,” said board member Cathy Zimmerman.

“I don’t see how you can do it (six-period days) without extending the school day, which brings up all sorts of other problems,” added board member Dick Bachelder.

In an interview with the Herald on Jan. 21, Superintendent Dave Marston said a two things will occur soon – a visit to a high school that uses six hour days and a meeting between curriculum committees – that will give the board and school district as a whole a better idea of how effective moving away from block scheduling would be for OHHS.

“The high school curriculum committee, which is made up of a teacher from every subject, is going to meet. They would like an opportunity to meet with the board curriculum committee,” Marston said. “Mr. Walby is [also] making a visit to John Glenn High School in Bay City with a group of students and parents.

“These two things will happen over the next couple weeks.”

In the interview with the Herald Thursday, Marston said that the AC program, which many people in the district consider imperative in helping struggling students, also teaches life and career skills to students who remain in their home AC room if they do not need additional help in another subject.

“That’s where an insurance agent will come in and talk to them about car and life insurance,” he said. “Students also get a chance to work on resumes. … They conduct mock interviews with business owners.”

Even if six-hour days are ultimately approved, the superintendent said he thinks teaching life and career skills should remain part of OHHS’s offerings to students.

“I would hope it remains part of the curriculum,” Marston said. “I’m not sure what form it would take.”

During the Board of Education meeting, Walby said he needed the board to make a decision as to whether or not it wants to pursue working on six-hour scheduling, as he’d like to implement the schedule next school year. The board’s February meeting is on Feb. 15.

Marston told the Herald that block scheduling has been in place at OHHS for about 12 years.