Special committee flags inequities: many District 86 courses show low or no enrollment; recommends publishing cadences and trimming offerings

A special board committee on Aug. 26 reported that Hinsdale Township High School District 86 offers many courses that either do not run or run with very low enrollment, producing course denials and inequities between the two campuses.

Member Fisher, who presented the Academic & Opportunities committee report, said the group used five years of district data and FOIA records to compare course requests, denials and offerings. “We offer lots of courses that never run,” Fisher said, noting eight courses had not run in more than three years and 13 courses run intermittently at low enrollment.

The committee recommended several operational steps to improve access and reduce denials: remove from the program-of-studies courses that are no longer offered; publish an alternating cadence for courses that run only some years so families can plan; consolidate overlapping or duplicative classes that split demand into several low-enrollment courses; and limit independent-study scheduling when it substitutes for an offered class. The committee provided numerical estimates that implementing the recommendations could eliminate roughly 121 denials at Central and 95 at South in the next course-scheduling cycle.

Committee members stressed trade-offs: some changes would increase costs if previously unoffered classes must be staffed, and changes to cadences require advance notice to families. Members said administration and school leaders are actively involved in the committee’s work and that the committee is time‑limited, planned to report conclusions in September with possible implementation for the 2026–27 program of studies.

The board did not take final action on course removals at the Aug. 26 meeting; the committee will return recommended changes and a timetable for posting program-of-studies updates and scheduling guidance.