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Student urges Cedar Springs board to restore in-person AP courses after this year’s cancellations
Summary
A Cedar Springs High School student told the board he and fellow students were disenfranchised after the district canceled in-person AP biology, AP chemistry and AP research and converted AP literature to dual enrollment, arguing changes reduce access to AP Capstone and undermine advanced-student pathways.
A Cedar Springs High School student asked the board June 8 to reconsider recent decisions that eliminated or converted several Advanced Placement offerings, saying the changes harm students pursuing AP Capstone and other advanced pathways.
Caleb Russell, a member of the class of 2027 who said he is a school-of-choice student, told the board that AP biology, AP chemistry and AP research were removed as in-person options and AP literature was converted into a dual-enrollment course. He said enrollment counts for those courses had been sufficient by his account but that scheduling or staffing choices led to their removal or conversion.
Russell listed student impacts: fewer in-person instructional days for converted courses, reduced AP credit hour equivalencies in the dual-enrollment option and the practical difficulty of completing AP Capstone without on-site AP Research. He said at least 11 students had enrolled in AP literature before the conversion, and that at least five could not continue because the new dual-enrollment meeting times did not fit their schedules.
"Advanced Placement classes serve as a crucial building block that leads into successful education beyond high school," Russell told the board. "AP research would no longer be offered in person at Cedar Springs, removing this possibility of capstone without the struggles of an online AP class." He added that students and some staff disagreed with the district office’s decision.
The public comment drew no immediate reversal; board members listened and the board moved on to action items. The transcript does not record a districtwide rationale for the specific course cancellations beyond scheduling and staffing constraints mentioned by the speaker and references to district-office scheduling decisions.
What happened next: public comment concluded and the board proceeded with scheduled action items. Board members and administrators did not offer a detailed response to the speaker on the record during the meeting; the superintendent was noted as planning a follow-up.
Next steps: The speaker asked the board to restore the AP offerings for future years; the district has not recorded a formal response in the meeting minutes beyond acknowledging the comment.
