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East St. Louis student urges expanded AP access; district to allow seventh class next year
Summary
A student presenter urged East St. Louis School District 189 to expand Advanced Placement access and change placement practices; district staff said students will be allowed to take seven classes beginning next year and teachers will receive AP training over the summer.
William Cosby, a student at East Saint Louis Senior High School, urged the East St. Louis School District 189 board on May 21 to broaden access to Advanced Placement courses and to change how students are placed in advanced classes.
Cosby told the board he and other students should have more information and voice before enrolling in AP classes. “We can provide course outlines, past student perspectives on the courses, teacher introductions, AP orientations, and we can also add more courses,” he said, and recommended that placement use “a holistic approach, teacher counselor recommendations, student input, prior academic performance, and demonstrated interest.”
The matter is consequential because, Cosby said, district data on the Illinois report card showed low AP outcomes: “We had … 11 total AP courses, 227 enrolled in AP courses. And out of all of the students enrolled in these courses, 0 percent … passed the AP test,” he said. He also noted the district’s 2023–24 graduation count: “73.5, which is 927 out of 1,201 students.”
Cosby outlined possible costs and staffing needs for broader placement processes but argued the financial impact would be low because the proposal “largely builds on a process that’s already exist[ing].” He said the district should require individual meetings between students and counselors to identify postsecondary plans and support equitable access to advanced coursework.
District academic staff told the board steps are already planned. “Beginning next year, they can take 7 classes,” said the district’s chief academic officer, identified in the meeting as Brumback, calling the move a way to give students more choices when selecting coursework. Brumback also told the board the district is “still sending teachers to … workshops over the summer for AP courses and honors courses so that they become more familiar with the resources that are available to them.”
Board members thanked Cosby for the presentation; administrators said they would follow up with students and counselors on implementation details. No formal board action on AP placement was taken at the May 21 meeting.
The presentation drew brief comments from other staff and board members and was followed by the public-comment portion of the meeting where community members raised related concerns about graduation rates and academic opportunity.
