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And on Tuesday, they let school board members know it wasn't a pleasant surprise.
Three students, four McCaskey parents and one teacher urged the board to either scrap the block idea or give it more careful consideration.
Several of them also warned that McCaskey's International Baccalaureate, honors and music programs would be weakened — if not ruined — by a switch to longer block class periods.
Superintendent Pedro Rivera assured them the proposal is only in the preliminary stages and the district would not make any changes that threaten the IB or McCaskey's small learning communities.
But the critics were unswayed.
"There are so many good things that the block scheduling is going to wipe out," said Gilberto Vega, a senior in McCaskey's Honors/IB SLC.
"I'm afraid of what this is going to do to the music program. I'm afraid of what this is going to do to IB."
A possible switch to block schedules was first discussed at last week's education committee meeting, where McCaskey principals reported on a pilot program implemented this year for 138 freshmen in the Technical/Business Careers SLC.
Those students attend four blocks of 85 to 102 minutes per day, compared with the eight 49-minute classes other students attend.
The block students overwhelmingly favor the new schedule, according to surveys, and their attendance, behavior and grades have improved, the principals said.
Teachers involved in the pilot program praised the new format, saying they can provide more academic help and develop stronger relationships with students during the longer class periods.
The principals also pointed out that fewer class changes in a block schedule reduce disruptions in hallways.
Although no implementation plan was agreed upon, the principals said McCaskey could expand the block schedule as soon as next year.
Board members asked them to return to the education committee next month with sample schedules to continue the discussion.
Parent Marylee Sauder complained Tuesday that only a few McCaskey teachers were involved in developing the block proposal.
Many teachers only learned of the potential schedule change after reading about it in the newspaper, she said.
"Bring the teachers to the table now, not when the decision is being made, but now, when they can really present the negatives and positives and you can have a really intellectual discussion across the campus," she said.
McCaskey communication arts teacher Brian McDonald agreed.
"Everybody needs to be in on that discussion," he said. "We're there (in the classrooms), we're the ones on the firing lines, we're the ones in the trenches."
Alvia Urdaneta, a McCaskey Honors/IB student, said switching to a 90-minute, four-block schedule would provide only 135 hours of instruction per course — 15 hours short of what's required for IB classes.
A block schedule also would make it difficult for students enrolled in other SLCs to fit IB and advanced-placement courses into their schedules, she said.
While the Honors/IB SLC enrolls only about 12 percent of the 2,800 pupils at McCaskey and McCaskey East high schools, students in any SLC can take IB, honors or AP courses.
Of the 51 students who took an AP Spanish test last year, Alvia said, only 10 were in the Honors/IB SLC.
A switch to block schedules would limit "amazing opportunities" for all McCaskey students, she said.
While the Honors/IB program has proven successful, Rivera said, other SLCs have been struggling, in spite of various tweaks designed to improve student achievement and behavior.
"We have a population of students who are in need. We have a group of students we have to do better by," he said.
"When we say serving all children, we mean all children — those who are succeeding and performing at the highest levels and those who are struggling."
That's why the district is considering blocks, Rivera said.
In the coming weeks, principals at McCaskey and McCaskey East will meet with teachers, parents and students to solicit more input on block scheduling before the December education committee meeting, Rivera said.
The superintendent said he has yet to be convinced that more blocks are the best option for McCaskey, but SDL needs to consider the change.
If the district decides to expand its pilot program, changes would be implemented gradually rather than campuswide in a single year, he said.
And McCaskey would not be locked into a particular block format but would likely adopt a variation of the traditional four-block schedule, he said.
Rivera could not say when he expects the school board to decide on blocks.
If the school were to switch to a full block schedule, it would become the 10th high school in Lancaster County to do so.
