Superintendent Dr. Joseph Topelski told students and trustees at Thursday's meeting that Royal Oak Schools will review how it delivers college‑readiness coursework — including the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) and Advanced Placement (AP) options — and explore whether the district could change scheduling, outreach or program structure to boost participation.

Topelski said the review is prompted by enrollment patterns. "When you look at the number of classes with 10 or fewer students at the high school, 9 out of 12 of those classes are DP classes," he said. He added the district has not decided to discontinue DP: "We have not made a decision to cut DP though," he told the board and student representatives.

Why it matters: DP and AP are two commonly used pathways to provide college‑level coursework in high school. Changes to how those options are offered could affect advanced‑course access, scheduling and partnerships with nearby postsecondary providers. Student participants at the meeting asked how the district would preserve performance‑based assessments if course offerings change; Topelski said AP seminar and AP research already include performance components and that the district would work to preserve rigorous, performance or research opportunities regardless of program vehicle.

Topics discussed during the meeting included whether DP classes are under‑enrolled because of schedule conflicts (for example, DP's Theory of Knowledge timing), perceptions of rigor, or lack of awareness. Topelski said administrators plan to use diagnostic reports such as PSAT results to identify students who might succeed in college‑readiness courses and to improve advising and outreach.

Students asked concrete questions about how core DP elements (oral presentations, internal assessments and extended essays) would be preserved if the district increased AP offerings instead. Topelski noted AP has expanded performance options (AP Seminar and AP Research) and that the district would consider combinations of offerings and partnerships (for example, with county programs and regional academies) so students would not lose access to advanced, research‑oriented coursework.

Topelski emphasized college‑readiness standards remain a nonnegotiable district goal: "The idea that we are going to deliver college readiness standards to our students ... will not change. The vehicle with which we do that is being evaluated and that may change," he said. He invited student board members to share feedback and said administration would pursue additional student and parent input as part of the review.

No board action was taken Thursday. Topelski said the district will continue the review during the school year and bring recommendations back to the board if program changes are needed.

Quotes in this story come directly from the meeting transcript and are attributed to speakers who addressed this topic at the meeting.