"There's low morale around discipline," says Les Kimbrough, dean of students in school 4. "People don't think we're being consistent across the board. I don't think that can ever be fixed."

Kimbrough was an administrator in Leadership house last year, and he says different deans will always handle issues like discipline differently.

Evans says she knows many teachers dislike redesign.

"It's hard. That's to be expected. I would never expect people would be on the same page," she says. "If people who are focusing on their classroom...choose not to get as directly involved, that's okay."

Down to the Wire

For Kimbrough, who was an administrator in the Leadership house last year, restructuring has meant long hours and a hectic fall. Redesign has made inroads but still has a long way to go.

"I don't have any illusion of things happening quickly," he says. "We're working with people. Students and teachers don't give up the past easily."

One thing most teachers had no choice about giving up was their classrooms. Over the summer, they had to pack up all of their materials in cardboard boxes. Custodians then moved the boxes so teachers could be arranged in their small schools.