There have been a tremendous number of changes in the educational programs over the past half-century since the school was built.  In the modern educational setting, a much larger and very different school is needed to serve the same number of students. In 1970, WHS had almost 1,300 students but it would take a significantly larger school to serve that many students today. 

Students at WHS place a much greater demand on the school now than they did in the 1960s.  They take more classes and they participate in more extracurricular activities.  The result is that it takes more classrooms and more athletic space to serve the same number of students than a few decades ago.  If the space is not available, the alternative is to deny access to certain academic, athletic and extracurricular programs to students that want it.  While this does not seem fair in a public school system, WHS is quickly moving in that direction.

In addition to the students, the greater Wayland community is putting more demands on the space at the High School.  The athletic facilities are used almost around the clock by community youth and adult groups, with some young children in the gym until 10 pm in the evening on week nights.

Regulations Have Changed

In addition to student demands, since 1970, the federal and state regulations affecting education have ballooned.  Many of these new rules that have been implemented in the past 30 years directly affect the educational program at WHS. 

For example, in 1970 there was no space allocated for delivering “special needs” education.  Today, 6,300 square feet of classroom space is committed to this program, and this space is needed in addition to the regular classrooms for these students.  Today about 17% of Wayland students are served by special education, and that is typical of our peer communities (and below the statewide average of 20%.) 

Title IX was federal legislation that mandated equivalent athletic program offerings for boys and girls.  As a result of this legislation the number of girls’ sports teams at Wayland High School has grown from 12 to 30 in the past 40 years.  The number of community groups for girls and women has also grown exponentially during this time, and so has the demand for athletic facilities. 

The design of Wayland High School in the 1950s did not anticipate the integration of technology in education.  As a result, the electrical wiring, network cabling and space for computer labs and servers was an after thought and is inadequate.  In order to provide the limited computer labs currently available, 4,200 square feet of classroom space was converted.  In addition, no provision was made for the air conditioning and other needs of this equipment.  As it is, the technology is so slow and unreliable that teachers often do not even try to use it. 

Today, science teachers at WHS cannot teach some of the science labs that are currently part of the AP chemistry curriculum because the labs cannot accommodate the new equipment that is needed.  Some of the labs also lack current safety features such as eyewash stations and sinks, facilities for the storage and disposal of chemicals, and proper ventilation and exhaust.

Students and teachers have limited access to computers for tasks such as research on the Internet or access to software for business and statistics classes.  Teachers cannot take advantage of web sites or other teaching aids and have limited access to computers for work outside the classroom such as sending and receiving emails.

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