SOUTH BEND — Debate continued Wednesday over a proposed change at South Bend's four high schools. Administrators want the schools to move a trimester schedule.

South Bend School Corporation administrators met with parents and teachers at Riley High School to outline why they believe trimesters offer a benefit to students.

It was the second in a series of four planned informational meetings aimed at answering questions about the proposed switch.

Right now, South Bend has a "traditional" schedule of six classes during each of two 18-week semesters. The proposed trimester schedule would change that to five classes during three 12-week trimesters.

Some of the 35 parents and teachers at the forum told administrators they're worried the corporation is rushing into the decision. Administrators say their goal is to begin the two year pilot program this fall.

If implemented, the program would be re-evaluated in the fall of 2010.

Several teachers also voiced concerns that students will have less time in any one teacher's classroom during the entire school year, even though the amount of time they would spend in each classroom during an individual school day would be increased by 20 minutes.

One Riley science teacher even said he'd spoke with other science teachers from across the state whose schools had gone to trimester systems, and most said they were unhappy with the results.

But administrators say there is a long list of benefits, too.

"For our more gifted and able students, they need to have more chances to get their academic honors diploma or their magnet certification, and those kinds of things. For some of our struggling students, we need to give them opportunities to have support, and still be on track to graduate on time," said South Bend Community School Corporation Director of High School Programs Dr. Gene Hollenberg.

Moving to trimesters would provide opportunities for growth in both areas, Hollenberg said.

"It also satisfies our guidelines that this must be financially feasible

As for the quick timetable for implementation?

"This school corporation has a great deal of capacity," Hollenberg said. "We have lots of talented teachers and administrators. We have a good resource bank. And there are lots of schools in this area that are doing the trimester schedule that have offered to help us out."

The trimester system is nothing new for those schools.

Plymouth High School, for example, moved to trimesters nearly a decade ago. The Pilgrims were among the first in a new wave of schools in the state to do so.

Since then, dozens more have followed, including local schools like Concord High School in Dunlap, Elkhart Central High School, LaPorte High School, Hammond High School and Merillville High School.

That's helped push the number of Indiana schools on trimester scheduling to 18% this year.

In Michigan, the number is even higher at 33%.

The question is, why?

For Plymouth Schools Superintendent Dan Tyree, who was an Assistant Principal at Plymouth High School when the decision was made to move to trimesters, the answer is simple.

"Discipline's gone down. Absenteeism has gone down. Scores over the last 10 years have increased. So, I'd say it's a success," he said.

Tyree says there's a long list of reasons why Plymouth made the switch.

First, administrators wanted to offer students more choices, but didn't want them to have to put more on their plates in order to take electives that interested them.

Trimesters allow students to focus on fewer subjects per trimester, Tyree said.

Students also get more time in each classroom, each day.

"That allows you to go more in depth in a lesson, because you have them in class for 70 or 75 minutes, instead of 50," Tyree said. "All of the brain research we've seen says that classes need to be longer in order to go through research modeled instruction. Seventy minutes allows you to do that."

There's one other benefit Plymouth has seen that's caught the attention of South Bend School administrators too: the potential for improved graduation rates.

"If a student has a problem in trimester one, you still have opportunities in trimester two and three to make that up, and keep them on track," said Tyree.

Still, the change to trimesters didn't come without growing pains. Tyree and other administrators admit there were some major adjustments to go through, most notably, over "gaps" in education.

"For example, a student may have algebra first trimester and third trimester. But, they don't have algebra in the second trimester. They may not have a math or English class in the first trimester, when ISTEP tests are scheduled. That can be a barrier in the continuation of learning," said Plymouth High School Director of Guidance Aimee Portteus, who also plays the role of high school parent and swim coach.

Students also change teachers more during the school year, and may lose out on valuable interaction with a teacher they connect with.

Wearing her "parent hat," Portteus says that can be a problem, or a solution, depending on whether students view the change as an opportunity or a curse.

"Some parents like it, some parents don't like it," she said.

With changes came solutions, too.

"We do a lot of hand fixing of those schedules, to make sure those students that need that extra help are placed where they need to be. It's a barrier, but it's something we've been able to work around," said Portteus.

"We've also tried to make up for those lost connections with teachers by having some students work with individual mentors. That has helped to bridge some of the gap," added Tyree.

As for students, themselves?

WSBT picked a classroom at random, and asked if the students would pick semesters or trimesters if given the choice today.

Every student replied "trimesters."

The bottom line, administrators in both Plymouth and South Bend agreed?

There's no perfect scheduling system.

"I would guess that if you held a poll at the high school, there would still be some teachers that would want to go back to a 50 minute period. But, overall, I think most would say it's been a success," said Tyree.

"I think there are benefits that come with trimesters that are worth the effort we go through," added Portteus.

South Bend School Corporation administrators will hold two more informational sessions next week to continue dialog over the proposed switch to trimesters.

Times and locations are listed below:

-Tuesday, January 13th at Washington High School, 6:30pm

-Thursday, January 15th at Adams High School, 6:30pm