“Is Schreiber Understaffed?”

The school year is officially starting to wrap up as we are moving into the last quarter! With spring break already here, AP exams just around the corner, and finals and regents exams in June, students are finalizing their schedules and are already preparing for the workload of the next school year. While all of that is happening in what seems like an easy few minutes of picking out classes with our guidance counselors, the underbelly of the process of schedule making is tough, long, and extremely complicated. The creation of the “master schedule” takes months to create, starting in late Apr/early May when waiver forms finally come in and course requests are pretty much locked in. But sometimes we don’t get the classes we put down as our first choice, either being put into our alternative choice, or a class we did not even request, which can be frustrating. Many students ask why? Everyone goes to the first conclusion, Schreiber is “understaffed” and cannot get enough teachers to fulfill the students’ requests. Well, not necessarily. I had the opportunity to interview both Principal Dr. Kathryn Behr, along with Superintendent Dr. Gaurav Passi to understand how classes are scheduled, the requirements New York State has on classes requiring the amount of students, and things Schreiber is doing to accommodate for all four grade levels.

To start, administrators create the number of class sections based on the average number of students that want to take a certain course. They want to maximize the amount of students in a classroom, without trying to go over the limit that New York State requests. Between 20-25 students per class is what is most frequently preferred. Because of this, it does not guarantee that every student will get into that class. They maximize the number of students with the maximum number of teachers that can take on those classes. This also then plays into teacher’s schedules, as they are required to have prep courses for their classes as well as hall duties and lunch breaks. The school cannot cram 6 full classes into a teacher’s schedule without needing a prep period to prepare for the day’s assignments and courses.

“If we are looking at single digit numbers for course requests, then it cannot run. We must maximize the number of students that request courses that we know will have the best opportunity for the most teachers,” said Principal Dr. Behr.

When making the master schedule, it is all reviewed and decided by a large team of administrators, including: Assistant Principal Dr. Casey Lomangino, Director of Guidance Mr. Justin Arini, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Christopher Shields, Superintendent Dr. Gaurav Passi, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Dr. Sean Feeney, and Principal Dr. Kathryn Behr. They first look at all the course averages, then they will determine if they need more teacher positions in a certain area of study. When they have to make these decisions, they always have to keep in mind something called a “tax cap” which puts a limit on the number of teachers schools in New York State, as well as many other states, can afford. For Schreiber, they cannot exceed a 2% tax cap, so they always have to keep that in the back of their minds when making decisions. If they realize they need more teachers, then staffing requests will be posted on an app called “Olas” which anyone in the district can find job openings for, anything from a substitute teacher to a superintendent position.

“We review proposals for new courses that are brought forward by teachers and administrators. When new courses are approved and there is sufficient student interest, we work to ensure that the appropriate staffing is in place to support them,” said Superintendent Dr. Gaurav Passi.

From Jan 2026 course requests for the upcoming school year (2026-2027), there have been the most requests for business courses, including Accounting, Wall Street Portfolio Management, and Marketing. When a situation like this occurs, when a class becomes so popular, guidance counselors do their absolute best to grant every student’s first or second choice. If that is not possible, counselors will call in students and try to find another option that is either in the same field of what they like, or browse at other options. If there are many students that want to take a certain class, and only one can run, then guidance counselors give priority to upperclassmen.

Music classes have also grown to become one of the most requested courses at Schreiber, including Orchestra, Band, and Choir courses. Students only need one year of an art, music, or family and consumer science course to graduate Schreiber, but more recently students have been shown to be staying with their music classes.

“I have made many friends throughout my journey of being a part of chorus these past 3 years and I always enjoy going to chorus to sing with my friends,” said junior Isabella Imperiale.

“Kids are no longer doing one credit and then disappearing, they are choosing to stay, which brings me the most joy,” said Dr. Behr.

Before this interview, I had no idea how much time and preparation went into making our schedules. Everyone believes that the computer system does all the work, and while that is a part of the process that does not take away from the organization of putting students into courses and finding teachers to teach those courses. So, is Schreiber understaffed? I don’t think so, especially after learning how course requests are made and putting every class into a place. There is sometimes just not enough room in the day to put everything at the same time.