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Superintendent: IB program to continue for at least two more years, district to recruit students
Summary
Superintendent Samano said the district will preserve the International Baccalaureate program for incoming juniors if enrollment targets are met and will run an early registration and outreach campaign before October 2025.
Superintendent Samano told the board the district will continue the International Baccalaureate (IB) program for students who will be juniors and seniors next school year, with juniors beginning the program in September 2025, provided sufficient enrollment.
"When we say 1 more year, we'll be accepting sophomores that are becoming juniors next year. They will, no matter what, have the opportunity to finish out the program. So it's actually, we're saying, 2 more years, their junior and their senior year," Samano said.
The superintendent credited teachers, administrators, students and families for collaborating on a condensed schedule and curricular adjustments that made continuation possible in the short term. He said the district will run a targeted outreach and registration process across the Kenmore West community and the wider district, noting that high schools operate with open enrollment: "Somebody from East can apply to West, and somebody from West can apply to East as long as there are seats that are open."
Samano asked staff to advertise the program and perform early registration in fall 2025 so the district can gauge whether enrollment is sufficient. "If those numbers are great, then we'll know ahead of time, we're golden. If the numbers aren't great, then we'll make a decision moving forward from there," he said, cautioning that the district is "not out of the woods" and that further evaluation, including a decision point, will follow.
The board did not take formal action on the IB program at the meeting; Samano described this as an operational decision the district will revisit depending on enrollment and staffing.
District leaders thanked students who spoke at the prior meeting and families who participated in the process. Samano said the district will continue to evaluate the program and return with enrollment data in the fall of 2025.
