Students express concern over course cuts

A pair of Long Beach High School students raised concern at a school board meeting recently after learning that several science courses will be eliminated next year.

At the Jan. 10 Board of Education meeting, high school students Brandan Persaud, a freshman, and Matthew Goldstein, a junior, expressed worry about changes in curriculum. They said they learned in December that three science courses — child development, human development and parenting — would be eliminated due to budget cuts.

Persaud said that he was speaking on behalf of other students who had signed a petition to keep the classes as part of the district’s curriculum.

“I also learned that there were five International Baccalaureate courses added, one technology course added, and two physical education courses added,” he told board members. “I understand that all of these are graduation requirements. But I don’t feel that it is right that these three . . . classes were cancelled do to budget cuts.”

School officials contended that the course changes were a result of declining enrollment in those classes, and part of a broader effort to offer courses that better prepare students for college. School Board President Dr. Dennis Ryan asked that a copy of the petition be provided to District Clerk Carole Butler so that it could be reviewed by school officials, and commended both students for coming forward with their concerns.

“Thank you for coming out on a school night to advocate and to stand up for those students,” he said.

After the meeting, Dr. Vincent Butera, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said that the district has assessed courses for students, and that the district, in striving to maintain a rigorous curriculum, plans to move forward in offering courses that “reflect college and career-readiness skills.”

“And for those that don’t, those are the ones we’ve removed,” he said. “We have to ensure that the curriculum for courses does reflect skills we want students to develop.”

Butera said that the decision to add a number of courses while removing others was made in late December, and was one considered by school directors, principals and Schools Superintendent David Weiss. However, the decision, he said, was not related to the budget.

Asked what specific courses would be added, Butera said he could not immediately provide that information.

“The courses we are adding focus on students as active learners,” he said. “Primarily, our focus is to offer classes that are part of a sequence that lead to capstone courses. For example, if we wanted kids to take an IB Biology class, we want to make sure there are courses that prepare them for that class.”

“This has little to do with the budget,” he added. “That wasn’t the primary motivator. It’s about college readiness skills for students. That’s our guiding principle.”

At the meeting, Persaud noted that for the 2010-11 school year, a total of 27 students were enrolled in the parenting course, and 30 students took the child development course. This year, he said, 16 students are taking the parenting course, while 20 students are taking the child development class.

“Sure, the numbers went down this year,” he explained, “but I know that . . . incoming freshman will all be taking these courses,” he said, noting that the courses ensure for “life lessons” and provide students with knowledge that can take away with them when the leave the district.

Butera said that enrollment for the courses over the years have fluctuated, though he did not provide specific numbers.

“In some cases, courses had low enrollment. I’m sure there are some who would have wanted to [take those classes],” he said. “But classes can’t be prohibitively low.”

He continued: “However, with respect to the parenting course, there are some components that will appear in other courses. It’ll be a part of a health course, so every child will benefit from that unit of study.”

Asked about whether components of child and human development classes would appear in other courses, Butera said, “For those two, I can’t speak to that.”

Butera added, “But we have to be careful,” he said, “to ensure that we’re able to provide the courses to all students that reflect the skills we want to develop within them.”

On Tuesday, Butler said she has not received a copy of the petition to date.