This past week, the school announced the implementation of a new PIT schedule for the rest of the year. The new system, called the “Dynamic” PIT schedule, rotates students’ default PIT class Monday- Thursday and makes their second block class their home PIT every Friday. The reason behind the change is so that the school can meet the Texas Education Agency (TEA) requirements for funding from CTE courses. In order to continue receiving funding for Career Technology Education (CTE) courses, TEA regulations required that 450 minutes of instruction be offered in these classes every two weeks. Last semester,  the school was only offering 410 minutes of CTE classes every two weeks. Now with the new dynamic PIT schedule, the school now meets the requirements for funding of these classes.

The new PIT schedule hit us seniors hard and fast. It’s thrown me for a bit of a loop. The new PIT schedule is certainly more confusing than before- students now need to keep track everyday of where they are being defaulted to if they didn’t sign up for a tutorial or meeting. This can be especially challenging when coming back from breaks or the weekend and is bound to cause a little chaos in the hallways. Also, seniors lost the privilege of Senior Scholars PIT, which was a special PIT reserved for the majority of seniors in the cafeteria. Senior Scholars PIT allowed senior friends to meet up easily to chat or study, not to mention it gave us the chance to buy a quick snack before running off to class if we had B or C lunch that day. With the new rotating home PIT, Senior Scholars PIT is not an option.

But in my opinion, the change isn’t all that bad. The new schedule will only change how home PIT works- students can still sign up for any PIT they want, so for many students who usually sign up for different PITs anyways, not much will change. Also, the new rotating home PIT allows students to be in PIT with teachers they’re familiar with and with their fellow classmates, creating a more comfortable environment. Students now have the opportunity to meet up with each of their teachers at least once over a period of two weeks, so if students needs tutorials or other help they can still get a chance to conference with any of their teachers. The assigned home PIT for the day is announced during the end of second period, so hopefully that will eliminate most of the potential confusion over where to go for PIT. The PIT schedule for the semester is also posted on the school website. And the loss of Senior Scholar PIT isn’t all that bad – I’ve found I can get so much more done when I’m in a class with one of my usual teachers rather than in a chatty cafeteria with my friends.

No matter how much some people may love or hate it though, this is what we got. No amount of protesting or petitioning is going to change the fact that the school needs money and this is the best way to do it. So in the meantime, all the complainers will have to suck it up and deal with the Dynamic PIT schedule. And for all the seniors lamenting the loss of Senior Scholar PIT: we’re almost out of here anyways. Don’t focus on what’s wrong with PIT – just try to survive until graduation.