As Hinsdale Township High School District 86 looks towards the 2024-25 school year, the administration reviewed the 33 courses offered between Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central that failed to enroll 15 or more students.
During the board of education’s preliminary staffing discussion on Thursday, March 7, particular emphasis was directed towards the low enrollment of freshman students taking Biology Honors.
Hinsdale South offers incoming students two pathways for the core science curriculum, freshman physics, sophomore chemistry, and junior biology, or the reverse sequence.
According to the District, three students opted to take Biology Honors this year; Biology 9 was not even offered to freshmen due to significantly low enrollment over the last few years.
The stark contrast between physics and biology first enrolment led school board members to question Hinsdale South’s administration about the possibility of “steering” students towards a particular path.
In response to the accusations, Hinsdale South Principal Patrick Hardy said the school is acting off of recommendations from sender schools while still asking students what courses they would prefer to take, and tallying their responses.
“We take the recommendations of the teachers who know incoming 9th graders best so students come with a recommendation for both pathways from their sender schools,” Hardy said.
Hardy, while pointing out that he did not want to publicly disagree with any of the board’s members, took umbrage with framing the discussion in terms like “steering.”
“I would say with 100% no equivocation, Hinsdale South counselors do not steer, period,” Hardy said. “I know the counselors don’t do it because of discussions like this, and the danger of those accusations coming from the community are impacting how much guidance guidance-counselors give out of fear that they will be accused of steering.”
As a rejoinder Board Member Jeff Waters read from a document given to parents and students about the science curriculum.
According to the document, in the physics first pathway, AP Biology can earn students two semester credits in the three-year sequence while in the biology first pathway, AP Physics earns one semester credit in the three-year sequence.
“I don’t know if steering or dissuasion is the right word, but the marketing is poor, to say the least,” Waters said.
Later in the meeting Hardy clarified that he was speaking about how teachers and counselors discussed the pathways with students and not about how courses were marketed.
Despite the numbers, district officials recommended Biology Honors continue to be offered alongside three other low enrollment courses, Latin 1 and German 1 at Hinsdale South, and AP Music Theory at Hinsdale Central.
Shortly following the board’s recommendation the discussion of adding a new AP course took center stage, with Assistant Superintendent Jason Markey recommending the district adopt AP Precalculus AB and AP Precalculus BC starting in the 2025-26 school year.
The existing honors precalculus course and regular precalculus course would be replaced by the two versions of AP Precalculus offered by College Board, Markey said.
According to documents provided by the district, over 175 students take AP Calculus BC, and over 225 students take AP Calculus AB at Hinsdale Central and South.
“The difference is going to be the depth … that will really prepare those kids for the higher level calculus class,” Markey said.
