Berkeley SD 87 reports growth in students taking higher-grade math; staff cite scheduling and staffing limits
Summary
District administrators told the board that enrollment in accelerated math and higher-grade math courses has grown across grade levels; administrators said staffing and class-size balancing keep pushing some students into online, self‑paced options while a small in-person cohort is being supported.
Berkeley SD 87 administrators reported an increase in students taking math courses above their grade level and described staffing and scheduling constraints that limit expansion of in-person offerings.
At the meeting, administration said four students are taking a sophomore-level math course (described as "second high school math course"), about 31 students are enrolled in freshman-level high school math, and roughly 20 seventh-graders are taking eighth-grade math. Administrators said the district "keeps growing that number" year to year if students continue to advance.
Administrators explained that the district offers some accelerated classes online in a self-paced model because dedicated full-time teachers cannot be assigned for very small groups without creating oversized classes for other students. One in-person offering for freshman math is taught by a high-school-certified teacher from the district, identified in the packet as the teacher at MacArthur (Miss Patterson). The district described the online program as a way to provide coursework while balancing class rosters.
District staff said that a few years ago there were none or only one student taking the sophomore-level course; with current enrollments, if all students pass the current courses, the district expects 12–13 students to be in the sophomore-level offering next year. Administrators also reported that midterm grades were submitted and that staff are tracking these students as they progress.
District leaders cautioned that while the small cohort model can support accelerated learning, it creates operational challenges: assigning a full-time teacher to a handful of accelerated students would leave dozens of other students without balanced class sizes. As a result the district is relying on a mix of online coursework and shared staffing to provide access to higher-level math.
Board members asked clarifying questions about how many students participate and how the coursework transfers when students change high schools; administrators said credits transfer only within the district's high-school partnership (for example to Proviso), and they provide students with the district's final exam and recorded coursework.
