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Board reviews new courses and resource request as enrollment outpaces projections
Summary
District staff reported double-expected enrollment—143 students—for a new Forensic Science II course and requested $5,345.62 for textbooks; the board also heard a proposal for a middle-school peer-mentor elective to serve as leadership and inclusion training.
District curriculum staff told the Auburn-Washburn Board of Education on June 11 that enrollment for a new Forensic Science II course has exceeded projections and presented a resource request for instructional materials.
Jenny Leonard, curriculum director, said 143 students are currently enrolled for the 2025–26 school year—about double expectations—requiring four sections each semester. Leonard presented a resource request for the textbook Forensic Science: From the Crime Scene to the Crime Lab, fifth edition, and asked the board to consider $5,345.62 to purchase digital and print access once the edition is released in July. Leonard circulated digital preview access to board members during the meeting.
The board also heard a proposal for a middle-school peer-mentor elective (grades 6–8), a semester-long course designed to train students in leadership, communication and confidentiality so they can provide peer support in general and special education classrooms. Mike (staff) described the program’s origins and said counselors or a teacher of record would advise mentors; the course could serve about 20 students per semester (up to 40 per year) with no additional staff or fees requested.
Leonard said the forensic request and the peer-mentor course are intended to expand academic and social-emotional supports; the forensic resource was presented for board consideration and will return as an action item on a subsequent agenda.
