Schools shouldn't eliminate honors classes

On Dec. 11, the Chesterfield County School Board will be voting on the Six-Year Plan to improve the quality of education in Chesterfield County schools. Overall, the Six-Year Plan is a move in the right direction to address the needs of our growing and changing school population.

There is a portion of the plan which proposes eliminating or severely reducing honors level courses in the high school curriculum. The wording which applies to honors classes in the Six-Year Plan is extremely vague. In fact, the words "honors classes" are not included in the verbiage. This proposal will have a very adverse effect on students who are not challenged by the current Z-level or college prep level courses but find AP classes too demanding for their abilities in certain subjects. In my opinion, this is a large percentage of high school students.

As an independent college planner/consultant, I have already seen the downside of eliminating honors level courses. There are high schools in our county which no longer offer honors level history and English classes starting at the sophomore and junior year respectively. Several of my clients chose AP over Z level classes during their junior year and ended up making their first "C" in one or both of the AP classes. This is goal displacement because the colleges that want to see AP classes on a student's transcript also want to see the minimum grade of a "B." These colleges also tend to be "C" intolerant, particularly during the junior year.

Honors level classes are usually the preparatory stage for AP classes. Without honors level English, history, chemistry, foreign language, advanced algebra/trigonometry etc., how will a student be prepared to take the sequential class at an AP level?

The Six-Year Plan will affect all students who are in the third-grade or above. The number of parents who are unaware of the proposed change in the high school curriculum is alarming. I encourage anyone who shares my concerns with the Six-Year Plan to both write or e-mail the school board and attend the meeting on Dec. 11.

Christel Milak-Parker, M. Ed.

College Connections

Midlothian