Old Rochester Regional High School will keep the common planning time for teachers piloted last year with one minor change.

Last year teachers had two mornings a month for planning time with other teachers in their department. On those mornings, teachers met from 7:20 to 8:20 a.m., pushing the school’s start time back an hour. Students could still keep their normal drop off times and go to one of four designated areas in the school or arrive in time for their 8:30 a.m. homeroom, said Principal Mike Devoll.

“Feedback was positive from students, staff and administration,” said Devoll. “One area we thought we could make improvements on was that they happened too frequently with too much instructional time.”

There were 19 planning times last year and Devoll proposed 13 this year.

“Everyone feels that thirteen is the stronger number for our students and our staff,” he said.

The change will add six hours of instructional time into the schedule.

The school committee unanimously approved the change.

Devoll said he would continue to report the minutes of each group’s meetings to the School Committee as he did last year.