With the announcement of 22 teacher layoffs Monday night, Niles Community Schools faces additional changes in an attempt to cut costs as state revenues continue to shrink.

High school students will see a change in scheduling next year as the district adopts a six-period day, a change from the current block schedule.

“There are advantages and disadvantages to both,” Supt. Richard Weigel said.

A change to block scheduling was a possibility last year as the district struggled against cuts in funding.

The change means rather than spending an hour and a half in classes that alternate each week, they will spend an hour in each of their six classes throughout the week.

“You now have the consistency,” Weigel said, adding that it may also contribute to a higher level of engagement among students.

Director of Special Education Dan Applegate says the change in schedule is also “a much more effective use of our teachers.”

“The research in education shows that time is one of the key factors in achievement,” Weigel added.

Prior criticism to changing the schedule included questioning whether students would have the same number of options for elective courses and courses that could prove helpful in preparing for college.

Weigel and Applegate both believe the district is offering a number of options to cater to those needs and help students build their transcripts, including the Cyber Cafe, where students can utilize online opportunities; classes available through Lake Michigan College; and independent study.

“Our job is to open up opportunities for kids, not constrain them with a schedule,” Weigel said.

With the impending layoffs comes a focus on “right-sizing” classrooms and balancing the student-teacher ratio.

“We need to make this more equitable,” Weigel said. “We want to make sure there’s a good balance.”

That balance means classrooms with fewer students in the lower grades, such as kindergarten through second grade, at an estimated 25 students and an estimated 28 students per classroom in grades 3-12.

All in all, Weigel said he expects to see parents stay in Niles Community Schools and embrace the changes as positive, adding that his teachers are going through rigorous training as well in order to “become some of the finest experts in education in the state of Michigan.”

He listed a developing reading apprenticeship, critical friends groups (professional learning), a leadership institute, early languages and college writing among the tools being developed for teachers.