Rumor about potential changes to East High School’s 2023 finals schedule is being shut down as the schedule is now confirmed by administrators to remain unchanged. Discussion on whether or not the school should keep its traditional three day schedule or shift to a more compacted two day schedule has stopped, and finals will be structured as usual.

“As of right now, it’s going to be three days like it’s always been,” East’s principal Casey Fries said.

Had schedule changes actually been made, the order and schedule of classes would have been significantly changed and condensed to fit each final into a two day period.

“It would have been four classes a day,” Fries said. “The periods themselves probably would have been seventy-five minutes instead of ninety.

The discussion to potentially change schedules was prompted partly by the fact that the number of classes actually having traditional summative tests is decreasing. Less classes taking cumulative finals prompted the question on whether finals could be condensed to provide more time for students to study, and teachers to grade. However, both East and the district have decided not to make the switch.

“The four-in-one day, back to back, could be a lot for students,” Fries said. “It also doesn’t provide a lot of time for teacher grading…But I don’t know if it would have been a drastically big difference.”

Lincoln Public Schools already has an efficient finals schedule, with the class periods with the least students attending, such as first or eighth, placed at the beginnings and ends of their respective days. Although seemingly arbitrary, the shuffled order of class periods plays an efficient role.

“What could appear to be kind of obscure numbering is because we try to put those periods that have less students here, or that are lunch periods, at the end or beginning…so that they’re not stuck in the middle of the day.”

With the unnecessary complications a schedule change would bring, and the effectiveness of the current setup, finals will be continuing as normal in just a couple weeks. As a reminder for all students preparing for the end of the semester:

“First Semester Finals will be held on December 20, 21, and 22,” according to East’s official school website. “Students will need to have their ID to enter the building…[and] do not need to come to school during their scheduled lunch period.”