New Batavia High courses get preliminary OK; board worries about cost
Batavia High School staffers were given a green light to plan for several new courses to the 2012-13 curriculum.
But the school board made it clear that cost will weigh heavily in whether any of the courses ultimately are approved.
The measure was approved 5-2, with trustees Joseph Purpura and Ronald Link voting “no.”
School faculty members and administrators proposed adding seven courses: “AP Physics,” “Transitions to College Mathematics,” “AP English Language and Composition,” “Exploring Medical Careers,” “Project Lead the Way,” “Advocacy” and “Latin IV/V.”
“Project Lead the Way” is an exploratory course about engineering, and “Advocacy” would be for students with disabilities, to teach them about options available to them after leaving school.
Board members agreed the staff was doing what the board has asked of it: increase the rigor of classes at the high school. But they also worry about money, as the district’s equalized assessed valuation drops, state reimbursements lag, and state legislators contemplate making school districts pay part of the salaries for regional school superintendents.
“I am struggling with spending any additional money or funds for more varied classes or curriculum at the high school,” Purpura said. “After reading the (school) report card and seeing about 30 percent of the kids just aren’t getting it, if we are going to be spending any money it ought to be directed to that.”
The vote is just the first step. The school now will advertise the courses in its 2012-13 handbook in January and accept registration in March. In the meantime, a school committee will flesh out the costs of the courses, including textbooks, teacher training and equipment, and savings, such as if the district no longer has to pay tuition for a student to attend a vocational course at Fox Valley Career Center.
The “Project Lead the Way,” however, would cost at least $8,000 a year.
The school board would decide in the spring whether to go ahead with the courses. If not, students would be assigned to alternates they picked at registration.
Purpura argued that the district already is incurring costs for these courses, since faculty members and Principal Lisa Hichens are spending time on the project when they could be focusing on something else.
And Link, the board’s president, said he doesn’t believe any of the proposed courses would be cost-neutral. Even offering the AP composition course in place of a pre-AP literature/composition course, which wouldn’t require hiring additional staff, would cost money because a teacher would have to undergo AP training.
“Essentially, I think there are hidden costs there that may erupt ... even though it is a very, very small amount, we just don’t have the money right now,” Link said.