Niskayuna proposes Earth and space requirement, pilots embedded honors model amid parent concern

Superintendent Carl Lemathe said the Niskayuna Central School District has not finalized next year’s program of studies but is weighing two planned changes to its science sequence: requiring Earth and space science for all ninth graders and piloting an “embedded honors” approach that would offer enrichment options within that required course.

Lemathe told the Board of Education on Dec. 16 that the district is “continuing to evaluate this proposal with our director of science and our science faculty” and that any changes will be clearly communicated to families after the program-of-studies document is published after winter break. He said the changes respond in part to new course frameworks and Regents exams adopted by the New York State Board of Regents.

Parents and students urged more transparency and expressed worry the proposal could narrow advanced-course pathways. An attendee who did not state her name on the record said there had been “no scientific data” shared and asked why the district would remove honors sections; a student speaker argued the “added value you get from a full-year honors course cannot be replaced by the proposed plan” of project-based honors credit in a combined Regents-honors class.

Lemathe said the pilot would seek to serve two groups: students who need deeper rigor and students who have historically scored at mastery in Regents courses but lacked teacher recommendations for honors. He also said 8th-grade students already earning Regents biology credit will feed into different 9th-grade sequences so that students who took 8th-grade biology and those who did not both have clear pathways to upper-level science and AP courses.

Board members pressed for details about how the changes would affect AP readiness and scheduling. Lemathe acknowledged the district’s need to address capacity — “accommodate a group of students twice as large” for Earth and space science — and said the district is consulting counselors and faculty while preparing scheduling and staffing plans.

Next steps: administration will publish the full program-of-studies document after the winter break and return to the board with finalized course sequences and communications plans. The pilot and any required changes will be included in that document, and families were encouraged to contact district staff with questions.