# Plan master schedule sections and catch conflicts before building

Works out sections needed, singleton conflicts, staffing gaps, and room limits before you build the secondary master schedule.

- Topic: Projects & Operations
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Education, Plan, Explain & Teach, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/plan-master-schedule-sections-and-catch-conflicts-before-building

## Prompt

```text
Help me plan our master schedule before I build it in our scheduling software.

**School level and bell schedule:** [e.g. "high school, 7-period day" or "4x4 block"]
**Course request tallies:** [PASTE - course, number of requests]
**Shared requests:** [PASTE or DESCRIBE - which courses the same students requested together, e.g. "AP Chem and AP Calc: 22 students"]
**Teachers and certifications:** [PASTE - teacher, subjects certified to teach, FTE, prep limits]
**Rooms and special spaces:** [labs, gyms, art rooms, capacity]
**Class size limits:** [by course or contract]
**Constraints:** [co-taught sections, EL and special education services, part-time or shared staff, lunch periods, CTE or dual enrollment off campus]

Steps:
1. Calculate sections needed per course from requests and class size limits; show the math.
2. List singletons and doubletons and build a conflict matrix showing which pairs must not share a period because the same students need both.
3. Check teacher capacity against sections: FTE, prep limits, and certification. Flag any out-of-field assignment.
4. Check that co-taught and support sections can line up with the core classes students with IEPs and EL services need.
5. Check room demand for labs and special spaces against periods available.
6. Suggest a placement order (most constrained courses first) and a rough period map for singletons only.

Return:
- A sections table (Course | Requests | Sections | Qualified teachers | Room type).
- The singleton conflict matrix with the pairs to keep apart.
- Staffing gaps or overages in FTE.
- A list of decisions I need to make before building (e.g. cap a course, add a section, approve an out-of-field assignment).

Use only the data I give. Do not assume certifications I did not list; mark them [CONFIRM]. Do not claim the final schedule is conflict-free; I will verify it in our scheduling system.
```

## What to fill in

- e.g. "high school, 7-period day" or "4x4 block"
- PASTE - course, number of requests
- labs, gyms, art rooms, capacity
- by course or contract
- CONFIRM

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.