Last night, the Virginia Beach School Board approved the redesign of the high school master schedule for the 2013-2014 school year.

In the new schedule, high school students will take six to eight classes on an A/B schedule and have a 30 minute daily lunch block. The schedule also will include the addition of a limited number of core courses offered on a 4×4 (semester-long) schedule for credit recovery.  These changes will require all high school teachers to teach a minimum of five classes or up to 150 students (in five or six classes).

The new schedule will increase the length of the high school day for students by 15 minutes and will adjust all elementary and middle school start and release times. No time will be added to the elementary and middle schools, however, start and dismissal times will be adjusted by 10 minutes to accommodate a new transportation schedule for high schools.

Start and dismissal times for the 2013-2014 school year will be as follows:

• High schools 7:20 a.m. to 2:10 p.m.
• Middle schools 9:20 a.m. to 3:50 p.m.
• “A” elementary schools 8:10 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.
• “B” elementary schools 8:40 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.

VBCPS is currently working with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to adjust before and after school programs’ hours of operation to accommodate staff members and VBCPS families who use those services.

The approved schedule is addressed in detail on vbschools.com, which also includes a copy of the committee’s PowerPoint presentation and answers to frequently asked questions.

If you have questions about the new schedule, feel free to post them below, send an email to vbschedule@vbschools.com or post on the division’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/VBSchools.