With the academic turnaround at Annapolis High School solidified, Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell has adjusted staff scheduling to return the majority of the staff to a 200-day-a-year schedule.

Under Maxwell's plan, which was agreed to by collective bargaining units and announced last week, department chairs in the four core academic subject areas, special education and ESOL will remain on the 12-month schedules. The school's testing, International Baccalaureate, Middle Years Program and signature program coordinators will also remain as 12-month employees.

From 2003 to 2007, the school failed to make federally mandated adequate yearly progress on standardized tests, which resulted in a radical restructuring in which Maxwell required all employees to reapply for their jobs, called zero-basing. Teachers who stayed had to commit to a three-year stay at the school and a 12-month work cycle.

"Three years ago, we set forth a very radical plan that we believed would put Annapolis High School on the right course," Maxwell said in a statement announcing the staff schedule change. "Thanks in large part to the incredibly hard work of a talented and dedicated staff, we have accomplished the first part of our goal. The challenge now is to continue to shape a very bright future for Annapolis High School and transform it into the showcase that we all want it to be. I believe these changes will continue to allow that transformation to occur."

The changes were made after the school made adequate yearly progress on state tests for two consecutive years.

While the schedule for the majority of the staff changes in July, some department heads and special education teachers will continue to work a 12-month schedule.

Many of the summer programs that have been essential elements of the school's success will continue under the plan. These include the Summer Bridge program for rising ninth-graders, summer school and the Advanced Placement/IB program.