Students and Staff Clash Over Proposed Learning Center Change
Staff and students of Deering High are in a predicament about a new policy proposal.
By Colin Brown, June 9th, 2026
On a Monday afternoon, Noah Brown, a 10th-grader, is getting ready to leave school at 2:05 p.m. and skip Learning Center.
“I need to leave at 2:05 p.m. because I need to catch the bus,” he said. “Some kids have to leave here.” With many students like Noah leaving Learning Center, the administration is pondering whether or not Learning Center is worth the trouble.
Staff and students at Deering High are in a predicament, a new policy change suggests removing Learning Center and advisory, and replacing it with a 5th class block.
In the winter of 2026, Alice Buckley, the Secondary Level Director of Climate and Culture, proposed a change to learning at Deering High School; the proposed change would remove advisory (beginning of the school day) and Learning Center. Advisory allows students to get settled in before the first class, while also giving the morning announcements. And Learning Center allows clubs, revisions, and one-on-one teaching with students. Mrs. Buckley suggested that removing Learning Center and replacing it with a 5th block known as a seminar would positively affect students.
Learning Center is a study hall for students to complete homework, missing, or late work. This helps students catch up to their peers and maintain their grades. However, students and staff believe the current iteration of Learning Center needs some work done to make it more effective. One problem echoed within the halls of Deering by the students is that they have nothing to do in Learning Center, which is one flaw Learning Center has; if students have nothing to do, they can only sit within their designated places for 50 or so minutes. And if a student decides to skip and go to work, home, etc., they are given a lunch detention, which the student needs to show up within five minutes of or be suspended from school. A parent or guardian of the student needs to come in and have a meeting with the interim principal to get it revised.
The proposed policy presented by the current administration states that the seminars would be a 5th block, with it combining multiple tracks into one lesson, known as “SEL Focus”, “Academic/Foundational Milestone”, and “The "High School 101" Skill”. SEL is social emotional learning, which would teach students about Empathy & Advocacy, Self-Regulation, and much more. AFM would teach students how to take tests and study properly, and what a GPA is. One example of this is “Academic Stamina: Goal setting using the $SMART$ method for GPA recovery/maintenance.” Just like the rest of the targets, these would change depending on grade, with 9th graders getting the very basics down, such as a GPA and fundamental math. The last one is “High School 101” which would teach students about the importance of “Building a 'College/Career List" and “Deep Work: Practicing 25-minute 'Sprints' without a phone”.
One of the primary reasons this was proposed is “because Learning Center is a part of the instructional minutes of the day, and the data suggests that it is, in its current iteration, it is not an effective use of instructional minutes because students aren't attending it,”said Buckley.
This data is currently from early 2026 and has risen to 47.9% of students attending ever since they implemented an attendance enforcement policy. Students are currently not attending Learning Centers. Like needing to go to work, needing to provide for their family, or simply not having anything to do and wanting to leave, and the lack of consequences from administrators.
“I think it's a good idea in practice, but it shouldn't be a matter of replacing it. It should be a matter of combining the two,” said junior student Mustafa Abu Zahra. “Because the Learning Center, as it is now, is a very useful chunk of the day. You have 45 minutes to do any work you want that you might be lacking on.” However, some other students have their own opinions of the proposed Learning Center changes.
“I feel like the new policy or future policy for what they plan to do with Learning Center is not a good idea,” said sophomore Brown. “For the main fact, what happens if someone needs the bus schedule, such as I get out at 2:05 to get to the bus, but if they push it till 3, then I'm walking home for 40 minutes, right? And then what happens if someone has to leave exactly at 2 o'clock for a club or sport? Let's say they have a game that day. What do they do? Do they miss that class and then come in later to redo the work? Or do they just kind of push it off, or are they exempt?”
As of May 2026, the current mood among students on the policy change is mixed, while some think it will be beneficial to the school and students, others believe it will be detrimental to the school. They believe that it will remove valuable time from teachers and students to get work done, and allow for school activities that would be removed or be forced to be done after school if these changes went through.
The majority of teachers interviewed at Deering High School weren't in favor of the proposed bill, and with teachers who have encountered this before, they think it's not a good idea.
Darcie Drew, a history teacher at Deering, has worked in districts that implemented similar policies, and stated that student buy-in to this program was difficult.
“I think that while the skills that are in that proposal are things that students want and need, I don't know that I think that's the best way to get them that information. And maybe those things could be embedded in other classes or taught by people who really have expertise in those areas."
Many teachers feel like the school isn't doing enough to justify removing Learning Center and replacing it with a different system. While others feel that removing Learning Center will negatively impact students who are failing classes and don't have the time after school to make up the work.
Currently, many find a restructure of Learning Center to be a better option, and with the proposed materials integrated into Learning Centers or already existing classes, like health. Other students believe Learning Center is helpful academic support time.
“Learning Center is valuable time specifically for me because I have a lot of clubs and extracurriculars that happen during Learning Center that would be taken away from me,” said sophomore Finn Hutchins. “A lot of other students also value that time. And it's also a time where if I need to make up work for a class because I was out sick or I missed something, I need to revise a test or catch up on work.”
Students at Deering High don't need a whole new time to do most of what is proposed; they need actual leadership to guide them in a direction that would help them and allow them to achieve their goals and put Deering on par with the rest of the state. Deering, in the current state, is performing far below the state average in Math and Science, which contrasts because Deering keeps producing graduates headed to Ivy League schools, many of them coming from Math and Science. One of the major reasons this is happening is that students have become more apathetic towards their grades and the school in general.
I have three proposed solutions for the learning center that would target students who need learning center the most and who are failing.
First, figure out why students don't want to go to Learning Center. Learn why students aren't doing their work and why they are failing their classes. Once the school finds the main reason for the students' deviancy, the school should find a way to fix it within their limits. You should also find out what is going on behind the senses at their homes and if there are any family issues. Because all of that combined it could most likely solve what is happening with students skipping, and failing classes.
Secondly, if that doesn't work, take the students who are failing classes and have them finish work during learning center with major consequences if not done or not showing up. The students who would fall under it would be students who are failing one or more classes, students who constantly skip classes and students who don't do their work, this wouldn't include students who are forgetful and don't turn in work on time. If the school was harsher with students who don't care and don't do work, it would slowly force students to care about their school life.
The third option is the most severe option, if students still fail to show up on time and do their work, the school will be forced to speak with their families and talk one on one with the parents and students. And if that fails, students will be suspended from school and forced to take summer school. And if that doesn't work still, they will call in the state and have the state take over.
In conclusion of this piece, this proposed policy change is highly controversial, many students and staff are in opposition of this and most likely will not pass due to that and if it does, the next principal for the school year 2026-2027, will be the deciding factor if this does go into implementation.
“I don't think it's going to help students. Because most of the stuff they're teaching, or they would be planning on teaching in that, you could either mention in half the class…or most kids already know what to do or talk to a trusted adult, like your counselor or your favorite teacher or something like that,” said Brown.