Auroraadvocate.com - Will IB program stay or go?

by Brent Hovey

Reporter

Aurora -- As school officials decide what cuts must be made to the budget in light of the November bond issue/levy failure, one area is generating a lot of discussion.

That is the International Baccalaureate program at the high school.

While supporters say it is a high-quality academic program, detractors contend it is expensive to run for the small number of participants -- 34.

According to Superintendent Russ Bennett, the IB program costs the district between $90,000 and $100,000 a year.

With only 34 students enrolled, the Board of Education must decide if that amount of money is worth it, or if the funds should go toward a program that affects more students.

"That's the million dollar question," said AHS Principal Pat Ciccantelli. "How do you balance having this great program to cutting something else that will affect 200 students instead of 34?"

International Baccalaureate, or IB, is a rigorous, college-level curriculum similar to Advanced Placement.

In AP, students can take one, two or any number of special classes, while IB is a diploma curriculum. When a student signs up for IB, his or her entire schedule is made up of IB classes, except for one elective.

BOTH AP and IB have external exams at the end of the year, but IB also has them throughout the year.

"If we didn't have the current financial situation, we wouldn't be having this discussion," Ciccantelli said. "The program has strong merit; it's a quality program -- something we're proud of and something we'd love to keep."

Bennett echoed Ciccantelli's comments, but said something has to be done to stay within budget.

"It's a great program to offer our students," he said. "It was a lot of work to bring it in and we're proud to have it.

"You'd like to offer your students everything, but in tough times you have to look at everything."

Bennett said any decision on the IB program will not be made until after students sign up for it at the end of February.

"Numbers and interest -- like any program -- drive this one," said Bennett. "It's similar to other courses. If not enough students sign up, the class or program gets cut."

If IB is eliminated, Bennett said it is likely the juniors enrolled now will be allowed to finish it. Sophomores who applied will be able to switch to AP classes.

While the cost to the district is near $100,000, students pay only one-third of the cost for the $90 final assessment test.

If the IB program stays, the Board could decide to require students to pay the entire amount.

Officials said the reason the cost of the program is so high is that classes are small, especially the electives. Currently, there are only two students in IB Art, four in IB Music and five in IB Physics.

"Fifteen juniors branch off and take electives so those classes run very small, and because of that they're expensive," said Ciccantelli.

"If the students were absorbed by AP or honors courses, they can join that class without a problem, eliminating one class or teacher's session.

"We estimate we'd gain five teachers' sessions, or one teacher, if that were to happen."

Ciccantelli added AHS loses nine semester duties because a teacher has at least one IB course and no other AP courses.

Ciccantelli and Bennett agreed if IB is cut, it probably won't come back in the near future because of the long process and high cost to become recertified to offer it.

Ciccantelli is a fan of IB and would like to find a way to keep offering the program.

"It provides students a chance to be challenged at the highest level and earn college credit," he said. "IB is becoming more recognized and only a handful of schools offer it. Losing it now would be unfortunate."

E-mail:

bhovey@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3115