For the upcoming 2025-2026 school year, Krop is returning to six periods after having eight periods for two school years in a row. Faculty voted on this decision on Feb. 19 and it is now finalized.
The vote resulted in 64.5 percent for eight periods, but a minimum of 66 percent was required for it to pass.
“When you move from eight to six periods there are going to be less opportunities to take advantage of electives, there are also going to be less electives that we’re going to be able to offer because students now need to be put into their core classes and core classes have class size,” Assistant Principal Monica Alba Nunez said.
It’s mandatory for students who are a part of the magnet program to take two classes in the magnet they are a part of. Each student has to take their four core classes, plus two electives. So, with six periods, magnet students will not have the option to choose electives they want to take.
“I’m actually planning on leaving the magnet program because I don’t see why we are switching from eight periods to six periods,” sophomore Har’mauni Neale said. “As a magnet student, it impacts me heavily because I came to this school for the magnet program and since I’m leaving I’m getting my title taken away from me just because we’re going back to six periods.”
With the switch, teachers will now be required to teach five periods and the sixth period will be an additional class they can teach, or keep as a planning period. With an 8-period day, teachers were required to teach six.
The change from eight to six periods means that teachers will now only be able to teach one supplement, or extra class period on top of the five they are mandated to teach, instead of the two supplements they would get with eight periods. Teachers are paid extra for every supplement they take, and this will limit the amount of money they can earn.
Due to this loss of supplement, many teachers of Krop were disappointed with the results of the voting. Including the teachers, many students were upset. For students, the switch from eight periods to six periods means that there are less opportunities to take classes they want or need for credit recovery.
Although some teachers and students were upset, others are looking forward to six periods for the upcoming school year. Teachers who voted for six periods made this decision stating that we do not have the resources to provide eight periods and that six periods will help the school overall, allowing teachers and administration to take control of students and classes.
“I was for going back to six periods, the reason being that I have seen many cases where students are not taking advantage in order to do better,” French teacher Georges Léperance said. “It seems that the perception is that because we have eight classes a year, they have an opportunity to gain 24 credits out of 32 rather than having to do well in every class.”
Originally, teachers were supposed to vote on the decision for six or eight periods on Feb 11, but teachers were not aware of this until Feb. 10. The United Teachers of Dade (UTD), reminded administrators that teachers were supposed to have at least a 5 day notice, so the voting day got pushed back a week later.
Most schools of Miami-Dade County end up voting later in the year, for Krop it happened to be early. The vote was not open to administrators, only to teachers, who were not allowed to phone in nor send a ballet on their vote, so not all teachers were able to vote.
“I think the adults involved, teachers, administrators and the union need to remember that we are the adults and to not act like children about this,” Science Teacher Todd Thompkins said. “We need to be a little more mature and professional about the decision that is being made about the students and younger teachers and their pay.”
While not everyone is happy with the results, faculty are able to vote for eight periods each year, and next school year, teachers will be voting for the 2026-2027 schedule.