So long, study halls. 

A scheduling issue at Barrington High School brought to light recently by the Rhode Island Department of Education, is forcing officials to re-think students’ schedules and remove regularly occurring study hall periods. 

School officials recently notified Barrington High School families about the issue —officials said that the school was not meeting the necessary amount of state-mandated instructional time each day due to the class schedule, which allows for study halls every other day. Those study halls were leaving gaps in the required 330 minutes of class time. 

The instructional time infraction surfaced when officials began exploring ways for the district to make up snow days incurred following the recent blizzard. In an effort to address the issue, the high school will move to a different, “fully active seven-period schedule for all students” next year. The new schedule does not include study halls every other day for most students. 

News of the change did not sit well with some Barrington High School students, including one underclassman who created an online petition to reverse the district’s decision to eliminate the study halls. 

As of Friday, March 20, more than 320 people had signed the petition. Some also shared comments about the situation.

“Force a student to sprint for 330 minutes straight, and they’ll eventually collapse. Give them 50 minutes to catch their breath, and they’ll win the race,” wrote one person. 

“im gonna fail i swear. i hate this school,” wrote another.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s no study,” added another BHS student.

A recent graduate also shared her thoughts about the decision.

“I graduated in 2025. Study halls allowed me to take time to review before a test, get my homework done before an away game, or finish college applications my senior year. Barrington is an excellent school, but with that comes pressure and study halls were crucial to my success…”

Barrington High School Principal Chris Ashley said officials understand how students have come to rely on these study hall periods. He said officials are still exploring ways to “develop possible scenarios for flexible time for students.”

“Understanding this change and recognizing many students rely on having time during the school day to study and prepare for assessments, we are exploring creative options to provide flexible time for students to prepare for school work during the school day,” Ashley wrote in an email to BHS families. “For example, our relatively new Eagle Block time does count as instructional minutes because students are working directly with teachers for additional support and content review. 

“Additionally, we plan on reviewing other high school’s schedules and taking a closer review of RIDE guidance to explore how other high schools may provide flexible time for students during the school day while still adhering to the law.”

Rhode Island law requires all public schools to have a minimum of 330 instructional minutes each school day; a RIDE policy states that schools are not allowed to include lunch time, passing time and study halls into their calculations when verifying instructional minutes each school day.

The Barrington High School schedule is not new. Officials said the district has been offering the regular study hall periods for years.

As school officials begin to create the new class schedule for the fall, Barrington High School students will be asked to select an additional course option. For most students, that additional course will be an elective. 

‘Significant burden’

According to the recent petition, the elimination of study halls will “place a significant burden on many students, particularly those who take AP or Honors courses, participate in extracurricular activities, and/or have after school jobs.”

Students at Barrington High School said study halls have allowed them to make up — or retake — tests, meet with advisors, prepare for assignments, and complete their homework. 

“Without this time, students will be forced to complete even more work outside of school hours, where our hours to complete said work are often restricted,” stated the student petition. 

BHS students shared concerns about a drop in achievement levels, or the need to cut back in afterschool activities. 

Possible solution

The petition offered a possible alternative to cutting study halls out of the schedule. 

“A viable solution would be to slightly extend the school day,” stated the petition. “As students have study 5 of every 14 days with the current schedule, this means that 300 minutes of instructional time is lost every 14 days. 300 divided by 14 is about 21. Therefore, adding 21 minutes to the school day would successfully reach the instructional time.”

The student petition stated that adding four minutes to each class period would provide the necessary time.