Jesus Medina

Guadalupe Hernandez

Many students at Oakland High are upset about the amount of time they get to travel from one class to another.

Since the change from seven- to five-minute passing periods last year, students have been getting to class later than before, say some teachers. This has become a major problem for students who travel from the new buildings to the main building.

“There is not enough time to do what we have to do, as in use the restroom and go to our lockers,” said senior Ricky R. Hines, Jr.

Most schools in the Oakland Unified School District have five-minute passing periods.

Ever since Oakland High has had the five minute passing periods, students have been having trouble getting to class because of the traffic students hit in the hallways or because the classes are too far away from each other.

“We don’t have enough time to get to one class to another,” said Jordan Tensley, a senior. “With all this traffic in the hallways, I’m always late. I don’t even have time to go to the restroom.”

Students also go to their class missing their books because they don’t have time to go to the locker to get their materials. This makes it worse for students because they are unable to do work.

The students at O-High fear getting bad grades just because of their tardies. At the end, many say all they want is good grades.

Truancy Officer Ray Bermudez spoke in favor of the shorter passing periods. “I think it was a good idea because kids just have enough time to get from one class to another and less time to socialize–to be late.” When asked if he though passing periods will ever be changed back to seven minutes, he exclaimed, “I hope not.”