Portland-area high schools increasingly require study halls, citing too few teachers to offer students class each period | OregonLive.com

Portland-area high schools increasingly require study halls, citing too few teachers to offer students class each period | OregonLive.com:

Portland-area high schools increasingly require study halls, citing too few teachers to offer students class each period

Published: Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 4:45 PM Updated: Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 4:45 PM

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
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View full sizeBrent Wojahn/ The OregonianBenson High freshman Alainya Cordero works on geometry homework during her 90-minute morning study hall, which she shares with about 200 other students.

Required study halls have become common in large Portland-area high schools as budget-slammed schools find they don't have enough teachers to go around.

But Portland Public Schools, which added required study halls to its seven biggest high schools this year after it cut more than 40 teaching jobs, has taken the money-saving measure to a new level. A campus security guard supervises 90-minute study halls packed with as many as 50 (Lincoln), 70 (Franklin), 135 (Grant) or even 200 (Benson) students in the cafeteria or another big room.

Grant High freshman Adanna Earl said she tries to finish assignments during the hour and a half she and dozens of other students spend in the cafeteria