By Caitlin Chen and Radhika Munshani  |  Opinions Editor and Staff Writer 

Assistant Principal Ms. Antonacci and the counselors  used a new software, Illuminate, to organize classes into the master schedule for the 2015-16 school year. Although Illuminate has caused a number of scheduling conflicts, Ms. Antonacci stressed the  complicated nature of the situation as a leading factor for the scheduling issues.

“We have 103 teachers and over 2300 kids. Somehow, we have to put in student requests and make sure the appropriate classes are being taught at certain periods so there are the fewest number of conflicts,” Antonacci said. “ It’s like working on the world’s most complicated Sudoku puzzle.”

Irvington admin used Illuminate to create the master schedule because of its numerous benefits. According to the Illuminate website, the software better enables administrators to “collect, organize, and analyze student data”, allowing easy access to all student records. However, multiple glitches have arisen, leading to overcrowding in classes as well as skewed schedules.

Although some students have expressed their irritation with the flawed schedules, most of the student body appear to be sympathetic to the difficulties that administrators and counselors face.

“Scheduling conflicts can be frustrating, but with so many students and the new software, it can’t be perfect,” junior Nikita Gupta said. “After a few weeks, hopefully admin will fix the scheduling problems.”

Ms. Antonacci pointed out that these issues are not unique to Irvington.

“Other schools have had similar issues,” she said. “The scheduling process is complex and the problems will take a few weeks to finish. Glitches are always to be expected, and students should be patient while Irvington’s administration works on alleviating the mistakes.”