Sequoia Union High School District discusses detracking courses

A common ninth grade class allows students — who may come from a variety of middle schools and with differing academic experiences — the ability to enter high school on a common ground, board President Amy Koo said. 

“Many students come into our district with  a lack of confidence, and sometimes they don’t believe they can do well in the advanced classes, so they will self-select themselves out of advanced classes,” Koo said. “If everyone is given a level playing field, students can increase their level of confidence.” 

Offering heterogeneous classes, meaning one course with students of all academic levels, has been criticized by parent groups for lowering standards or expectations. This includes the district’s decision to not offer an advanced freshman English courses — except for at Carlmont High School. 

The agenda item, which was to review past discussions on the topic and provide a current update on course offerings, was included in the board’s meeting April 22, at the request of community members, a staff report said. 

Diana Blum, on behalf of the Jewish Community Advocacy Council, spoke during public comment and called on trustees to reinstate honors and advanced standing courses for ninth graders. 

“Offering honors classes is the most fair system we have,” Blum said. “It rewards achievement, encourages students to do their best and gives every child regardless of background or socioeconomic status a clear path to prove what they can do.” 

Offering honors courses “lets motivated students work at their level” and gives students a visible track they can strive toward, she said. 

“High achievement should be admired and sought after,” Blum said. “Achievement is how students of any background prove their greatness and open doors that their parents could never walk through.” 

The topic has been discussed during multiple board meetings and study sessions in recent school years. Edith Salvatore, the president of the teacher’s union, urged the board to not make swift decisions to take steps back form the district’s detracking efforts in recent years without the data to support it. 

“No student was made or broken by the strength of their advanced ninth grade English class, but many students have had paths closed to them by the lack of access provided by a tracked system,” Salvatore said. “I would rather err on the side of opening those paths to everyone.” 

Trustees Maria Cruz and Mary Beth Thompson both expressed a concern of rehashing long-discussed topics at the expense of the board’s time and resources. 

“I do not believe continuing to re-litigate this one question over and over is not the best use of board time,” Thompson said. “I do not see evidence of harm and therefore I do not believe there’s enough to move forward with working toward reinstating ninth grade honors English.” 

Although the agenda item did not require a vote to continue course options as offered, Trustee Rich Ginn proposed a vote to support making the ninth grade course offerings uniform across campuses. Currently, Carlmont High School is the only school in the district offering a freshman honors English course.

Ginn said it was unfair for his constituents in Trustee Area C do not have access to an honors freshman year course since it is not offered at their zoned high school — unlike Thompson and board President Amy Koo’s zoned areas. 

Ginn’s motion was seconded by Trustee Sathvik Nori, who supported adding the option across campuses, but the motion failed without further support. Nori emphasized he would not support removing a course from a school — such as taking away the honors English course at Carlmont — but would support adding the option to other campuses. 

Opponents to the motion said the decision should not be made without further data analysis and a long-term study of the effects detracking has on students. 

“I think what you’re proposing, of this super strict consistency on honors … I don’t think what you’re proposing is in the best interest by any means of the district in terms of time and resources,” Thompson said. 

While Nori has shared an appreciation for the efforts of detracking, he said data has yet to show that the implementation has resulted in the primary goal — to increase enrollment in advanced coursework among socioeconomically disadvantaged students. 

“The biggest group in jump in terms of [honors sophomore English] participation is Caucasian students,” Nori said. “That’s not a bad thing by any means but it doesn’t necessarily meet the goal that was identified to a lot of people int he community to help increase minority representation in honors courses.” 

He shared his desire to see data that shows increased enrollment among minority groups, in particular, to demonstrate success in the detracking program. 

“I do constantly wonder what more can we do to improve the end goal here, which is to improve the diversity of some of our higher level and rigorous courses,” Nori said.