San Diego’s largest high school reportedly removed several advanced placement courses from its course catalog without the input of parents, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Mother Pamela Broudy told the San Diego Union-Tribune that she noticed Patrick Henry High School quietly eliminated several of the advanced courses when enrolling her eighth-grade daughter in school. Broudy said that her daughter will be “bored to tears” after coming from a private school where students were not subjected to learning losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the classes removed were advanced English, advanced history, and advanced biology, according to a course catalog FAQ from the school.
Principal Michelle Irwin reportedly cut the courses for “equity reasons,” according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The school’s course catalog FAQ claims the courses were cut to “create more balanced heterogeneously grouped classes, [to] eliminate stigma, [and to] provide a well-balanced course offering for all students.”
Patrick Henry High School canceled some of their honors program courses, stating it makes the curriculum more equitable — without first informing parents.https://t.co/wHSzfOMVTL
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) April 14, 2022
The school still offers more than 20 advanced placement courses. Irwin argued that the advanced courses and regular courses share a similar curriculum, so labeling one class as “regular” and the other as “advanced” appeared unfair. (RELATED: Virginia Department Of Education Eliminating Accelerated Math Courses In The Name Of Equity)
Parents expressed concern with the local San Diego outlet that the removal of advanced courses could hurt their child’s ability for admission to elite colleges. One parent noted that a wider range of advanced courses exist at other schools within the San Diego Unified School District.
“Unilateral decisions to eliminate these classes unfairly disadvantage the students at Patrick Henry because their competition around the nation, not just in California, is having these classes,” said Lauren Hotz, a parent with two kids enrolled at Patrick Henry High School.
Patrick Henry High School reiterated that the school did not eliminate advanced placement courses and referred the Daily Caller to the course catalog FAQ page.