Back to semesters in West Ottawa

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A west Michigan high school is switching back to semesters in 2010-2011 as a way to save up by $500,000 annually by hiring fewer teachers, according to The Holland Sentinel.

West Ottawa High School will move to a two-semester school year rather than continue the trimester calendar it has been on for six years, The Sentinel reported. Jim Nicolette, the district's assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said that the semester schedule will require seven fewer teachers, according to the report.

He said that teacher retirements may allow the switch to take place without layoffs, but that is not certain, according to The Sentinel.

He also said that the shift may help students academically because it will eliminate cases in which a student studies a subject for the first two trimesters of one year, but does not return to that subject until the second two trimesters of the next year, The Sentinel reported.

SOURCE:
The Holland Sentinel, "West Ottawa to save $400-$500K, 7 teaching positions with switch to semesters," Feb. 16, 2010

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "New high school graduation requirements in action," May 6, 2008