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Board approves course‑book updates; AP Chemistry to run every other year amid enrollment concerns
Summary
After public comment from a GHS physics teacher opposing the change, the board approved updates to high‑school course materials that include moving AP Chemistry to an every‑other‑year offering due to enrollment and staffing constraints and noting options such as overload sections.
The Ball‑Chatham CUSD 5 Board approved updates to the GHS course handbook that include scheduling AP Chemistry on an every‑other‑year rotation, citing enrollment trends and staffing constraints.
Grant Godard, a physics teacher at the high school, used the public‑comment period to urge the board to retain an annual AP Chemistry offering. Godard said he was “very disappointed to see the AP chemistry course move to an every other year offering,” arguing the change would force students to make course decisions as early as eighth grade and could limit opportunities for students planning for college and careers in science or medicine. Godard noted the district has previously used teacher overloads to run additional sections and cited a negotiated stipend of $5,000 per year for teachers who teach six courses.
District staff and presenters explained the decision as driven by variable year‑to‑year enrollment and safety/operational limits. The presenter noted that AP and lab classes are capped at about 24 students for laboratory safety and that typical AP Chemistry enrollments have ranged across years; speakers cited recent ranges varying from roughly 5–10 to as high as the low‑teens in some past years. Staff said scheduling the class every other year helps ensure it can be reliably offered and allows students and counselors to plan course sequences in advance; they also said the district retains the option of creating an overload section if demand requires and staffing permits.
Board members asked for enrollment and sequencing clarifications and were told the change aims to preserve access to AP Physics and other course options while accommodating new state requirements and a projected drop in high‑school enrollment. After discussion the board moved to accept the presentation and adopt the course‑book change.
The board approved similar course‑book updates for the middle and elementary schools (GMS and GIS) during the same agenda block; these changes included transcripting certain middle‑school courses for NCAA eligibility (without pulling them into high‑school GPA), renaming and restructuring some encore and choir electives, and changing fifth‑grade coding to a STEAM label to reflect hands‑on, project‑based learning.
