Seventh period | Letters | May 27

BHS program is important, but still being fleshed out I feel a need to clarify some information floating about on the island blogs regarding the emerging “Seventh Period” program at BHS. I had the honor of being a member of the BHS site-base council this year and we were informed of every step in the evolution of this program to date. First, the program is nowhere near fruition. It will take some time to gather the information needed before the program becomes fully fleshed out. Linking a fee to take an additional class to elitism, or an intentional act to exclude economically challenged families, or an attempt to destroy an athletic program to support additional academics is missing the point of both programs. Both programs have additional fees, athletic programs have always been fee-based and since the 7th period program is not funded by the state, a fee must be charged. This additional class, either a zero-period or self-study, would be a class that a student would like to attend, but can’t, due to the current six-period limitation. No student would have to take a 7th period class to graduate within the states’ current graduation requirements. To make the claim that these classes might be denied a student due to an inability to pay since scholarships were not mentioned in an informational article in the Review, and then writing a letter prior to trying to confirm, is knee-jerk at best and an attempt to torpedo a great potential program for our kids at worst. There are scholarships for almost every fee-based program at BHS. Lastly, both my kids will be at BHS next year, a senior and a freshman, but neither they nor we, as their parents, feel the need to take advantage of the new program next year. We, like every other family with a teenager at BHS are able to obtain the classes our kids need to graduate within the current six-hour class schedule, all without paying any additional fees. Robert Miller Bainbridge Island

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