Over the past month, I have exchanged emails and engaged in conversation with several students and parents/guardians who expressed concerns about the district eliminating Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses at the High School level. It is important to know that we are not looking to eliminate AP and IB options. Instead, we are aggressively in pursuit of increasing rigorous options for all students.
As I learned more about where the information was coming from, generally the people I engaged cited their interpretation of the draft racial equity policy language or that they received this information from a staff member.
At the pace in which we are going during a pandemic, I recognize that it increases opportunities for misunderstanding, which sometimes leads to misinformation being shared with stakeholders. As a part of our strategic direction, we are working to ensure that all students will have access to AP, IB or concurrent college courses during high school to sample higher education and help determine their interests.
In all subject areas and and all grade levels of our system, it is our goal for all students to experience culturally-relevant teaching where there are high expectations to achieve academic success, opportunities to develop racial and cultural competence, and opportunities for the development of critical thinking that will have them be globally conscious leaders upon graduation from our school system.
I apologize for any confusion that has been caused by the draft racial equity policy language or inaccurate/incomplete information you may have received from a staff member. It is our goal to support each student to be successful in at least one AP, IB, or concurrent college course of their choice before graduation.
Thank you and I look forward to our continued partnership in support of our district mission.
In community,
Astein
