Debate about course offerings at school board meeting
Humboldt 7th graders from left: Drake Pettit, Noah Elman and Callen Johnson, members of Katie Phillips’ civic engagement class, are canvassing the community seeking small items that can be put in a drawstring book bag and given to brave girls and boys who are hospitalized fighting illness and disease. The campaign will be continuing through March 31. Read the full story in this week's Humboldt Independent. Contact Katie Phillips at the Humboldt Middle School to see how you can help. Humboldt Independent photo.
By PHIL MONSON
Proposed changes to next year’s course offerings at Humboldt High School drew concern from a group of students who attended the monthly school board meeting Monday night, Feb. 12.
Four students and four teachers were present at the meeting, where much of the discussion centered around plans to drop classes with less than 10 students.
High school principal Travis Sprague reported that half of the North Central Conference schools run a minimum of 10 students per class.
“In discussions with the administration and building leaders here, it is in our best intention to run classes of at least 10 students or more for next year,” Sprague said. “For most of our classes, this has no impact whatsoever.”
However, students speaking at the meeting offered a different view.
“If the classes with less than 10 people were taken away, the alternative would be to take online classes and attend Iowa Central in person,” high school student Joel Thurm said. “This could potentially impact up to 32 classes offered in our school. Coming from students who have already participated in these alternatives, we can confidently say that this not a good, universal solution.”
