A new bell schedule has been implemented recently here at Venice High. 

The schedule has been placed to compensate for lost instructional minutes after the teacher strike in March.

The schedule itself doesn’t appear to have changed much, adding one minute to Period 3 and Period 4. In addition, the schedule now has a shorter Nutrition, which lasts 15 minutes instead of 17. 

Biology teacher Julia Bare, co-leader of Venice’s UTLA chapter, and Spanish teachers Angela Fajardo and Maria Lopez Zamudio, said that the new bell schedule “was created because of a contract” established between UTLA and LAUSD. 

“In the contract they specify that every Tuesday should be a professional development day, because that was what the District wanted for teachers because of the strike,” she said. 

The schedule change was first put to a committee vote, which is made up of a parent representative, a student representative, and an all-around community representative who represents teachers and the administration. 

That same committee approved the schedule change and after, the teachers voted on the bell schedule as well. In total, there were 73 votes for the new schedule, and four against it.

Bare likes the new schedule, because it preserves minimum days and will help teachers recuperate from commitments like Parent Conference Night. 

“We have to stay late, and it’s a pretty exhausting day,” she said.

“It’s nice to have that additional day to recover after a long parent conference night. I really approve of the bell schedule—I think it was a good move.”