School board weighs pros and cons of semester system

GRUNDY CENTER – At the Grundy Center School Board meeting last Thursday, Paul Hamann, a member of the public, addressed the board on why he believes the district should switch from the trimester system to a semester system.
“If you will recall, a primary item in my presentation last month had to do with my concern in class availability, continuity and insuring that our students were being offered core subjects each and every trimester throughout the year in an effort to best prepare them for continued higher education,” Hamann said. “As it turns out, my wife and I are not the only ones concerned.  I now represent 24 plus parents – and growing – with exactly the same concern. The subject is not going away.”
In a letter to the board, Hamann said that he believes a semester system would be more beneficial to students by allowing them to take back-to-back math, science and foreign language courses. Under the current trimester system, he said, students are not being offered these classes back-to-back, and have a 12-week break to “forget everything they were taught the first trimester.”
To hear more about the board's discussion of trimester vs. semester system, check out the full story in the March 3 edition of The Grundy Register.