Many school districts have adopted, or have expressed
interest in adopting, a block schedule. State Board of Education
policy requires that each single class period must meet for a minimum of
7830 minutes (45 minutes per period for 174 days) for each unit of credit
issued. A block of 2 periods, then, must meet for a minimum of 90
minutes for 87 days. Any district planning a block schedule in which
each block will meet for less than 7830 minutes a year must receive a
special waiver from the Commissioner of Education. Also, the
Commissioner must give a waiver to any middle school/junior high school
which offers a block schedule that provides for less than 900 minutes per
week of instruction, in the aggregate, in the areas of language arts,
mathematics, science and social studies.
School districts
interested in applying for a waiver should complete an application form
and return it to
Mr. John Weber
Director, Missouri School Improvement Program
MO Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
P.O. Box 480
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0480
(573) 751-4426
