COEUR d'ALENE - Some students at Lake City High School are concerned about plans to move the district's high schools onto the same class schedule.

A change would likely scale back the block schedule followed at Lake City, while broadening the more traditional 7-period schedule at Coeur d'Alene High School.

Sadie Comer, 16, and Sarah-Rose Taylor, 17, told The Press they feel the district is moving too fast in making the decision. The students, both juniors, said they worry that loss of the block schedule, as they know it, will eliminate existing opportunities for elective classes like debate, drama and band. They also fear that students, parents and teachers are not being included in the process.

"The students I've talked to don't know this is happening, and when they hear it is, they say they don't want to lose the block schedule," Taylor said.

Lake City Principal Deanne Clifford said she is on a committee reviewing the schedule, along with the principals of CHS and Project CDA and counselors from all three high schools.

The projected fall 2012 opening of Kootenai Technical Education Campus High School is one of the driving factors behind getting all the high schools on the same schedule, Clifford said. The schools would also like to be able to use the Idaho Education Network, the state's new high-speed, interactive educational network, to transmit classes between the schools.

Clifford said it is likely the committee will decide on a modified block schedule that includes the "right number of credits" for all students and the electives they want.

"We're looking at what's best for kids," Clifford said. "We want to be able to continue to offer all the programs, including debate, drama and band."

Sadie Comer said students attend Lake City because they like the block schedule.

Comer said it seems unfair to change the schedule to accommodate KTEC students who will represent a very small part of the total roughly 1,500-student population of Lake City.

"I hope they find a way to preserve the way Lake City is," Taylor said.

The block schedule was piloted at Lake City in 1998. In 2000, the school board approved making the non-traditional schedule the standard at the high school.

Lake City's "AB Rollover Block Schedule" provides students with eight credits per semester. They take four 75- to- 90-minute classes one day, and four different classes on alternate days.

According to Lake City's website, the schedule "allows in-depth exploration of important concepts."

CHS maintains a more traditional schedule with seven one-hour class periods each day.

Warren Olson, principal at CHS, said the committee is looking for a schedule that will benefit both high schools.

Being able to use live video to transmit courses between the schools would allow them to share teachers, Olson said.

"For example, we have a German teacher and they have a Japanese teacher. I would love to be able to have students at CHS take Japanese," he said.

Olson said it's time to re-evaluate how both schools' schedules should look.

"By having a common start and end time, it opens up possibilities," Olson said. "The day will still be from 7:30 to 2:30. How you divide up time is never designed to take anything away."