Berkeley High School Principal Juan Raygoza met with students’ parents and guardians on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, to outline the administration’s reasoning and thought process behind potential bell schedule changes that happening next school year.
Up until this year, BHS has operated under a flexible physical education system, allowing students to gain PE credits by playing a BHS sport, participating in outside activities, or exercising at the YMCA, with the only requirement being that they must have 20 credits (or four semesters) to graduate. After determining that BHS was out of compliance with state PE requirements, the California Department of Education is requiring that all freshmen and sophomores take a PE class.
This requirement will constrain underclassmen, restricting their access to diverse electives if the current schedule were to stay the same.
“For all of our 9th (and 10th) graders, they have one elective slot in their schedule,” Raygoza said, “Some students would use that for a CLC Course … and (for) some students in the MLP program, that elective slot would be taken. And so it creates a really challenging problem.”
Many more students would find it near impossible to fit certain electives into their schedule, such as world languages.
“If you add afterschool athletics and support programs, it becomes evident that PE is just one barrier in a systemic problem,” Raygoza said, noting that while the newly-instated PE requirements incited the major bell schedule change, the rigidity of the outdated schedule may have caused problems for students in the past. “Every program has a value, as we know. But when they all fight for the same six slots, our schedule forces compromise (for) our students,” Raygoza said.
Maria McLaughlin, parent of a Berkeley International High School junior, described how the current bell schedule in combination with class requirements caused scheduling conflicts for her daughter.
“In 10th grade, there’s five required classes; (my daughter) was only able to take one additional class,” she said. Her daughter wanted to continue orchestra into high school and prioritized taking that elective in-person, and according to McLaughlin, taking class online “was really a lot.”
“To be completely transparent with the community, the bell schedule at BHS will be different,” Raygoza said, “BHS must expand the total number of course opportunities available to students. We are making continuous transfers in the engagement of the staff, students, and families, (and) we are rigorously exploring and modeling the schedule structure.”
BHS freshman Aria Do expressed concern about the current bell schedule changing. “I’m already used to this one. It’s hard to memorize all the period times,” she said. She also mentioned her feelings about the possible removal of late start Monday, something that the administration discussed having difficulty keeping in their proposals. “If late start Monday went away, I would be really sad. I feel like that’s one of the things that makes (BHS) really special,” she said.
“It’s not off the table,” said Raygoza, describing the late start Mondays. He said that he could see how important it was to the majority of students and caregivers. Raygoza and BHS Vice Principal Keldon Clegg described the three schedule models the administration was considering. One took the form of a schedule similar to the current one, only with seven or eight required classes instead of six that would be shorter than the 58-minute classes students currently have.
Another proposal was a modified A/B block schedule, which would allow students to take at least one extra period per year.
Finally, they proposed a modified four-by-four block schedule, in which students would take four classes one semester and switch over to four new classes the next semester. Raygoza emphasized that the scheduling options were not proposals — they were instead philosophies the school was considering.
Amidst the uncertainty that many students, staff, and caregivers are experiencing regarding the future of the schedule, the administration has made it clear that no decisions have been made yet. They have placed an emphasis on student and community involvement, framing the revision as a collaborative effort. Students, staff, and Berkeley community members who would like to give input on the bell schedule can reach out to Raygoza via email, availible on the BHS website.