As a student with ADHD, when the new schedule was announced at the end of last year, the 100-minute class periods seemed incredibly daunting to me.

While the longer classes are certainly a challenge, I did not anticipate how difficult it would be to not have Conference and Y periods. In previous years, I used both Conference and Y period for my extended time on quizzes and tests, allowing me to schedule two assessments per day.

However, the new schedule does not allocate significant chunks of time for students to have meetings and get work done. With assemblies, Social Impact opportunities and form meetings, our only significant amount of free time, WIN, is often cut short.

This has made it incredibly hard to schedule times to use my extended time. On days when I have multiple tests or quizzes, it ultimately becomes a choice of which assignment I am going to use my extended time on. With the way WIN period is structured, there is not enough time to use extra time for more than one project, forcing students to pick and choose between which assignments they will use their learning plan for.

Learning differences are not just something that can be turned on and off, and the new schedule fails to recognize that. Learning plans and Education Accommodation Programs (EAP) are designed to ensure that students with learning differences have equal opportunities and experiences in the classroom, but the new schedule has a lack of understanding and compassion for neurodivergent students.

Instead of getting rid of the new schedule completely next year, the class periods could be altered. If the periods were shorter, then there could be either a longer free period and more time to use extended time.

While students are still receiving their extended time, it impacts their other classes, the course of their day and how much homework they get done, which can lead to students falling behind in classes because of how teachers organize their lessons. It is not a question about equality in terms of accommodations, but a question of equity inside and outside the classroom.