Schools
Out With the Old; In With the New
The Board of Education considered new courses at its Monday night meeting.
The Westport Board of Education heard from high school teachers Monday night about the need for new classes in computer science, art instruction and advanced digital photography.
While the board will not take action on those requests until its Dec. 7 meeting, here's a list of the new course proposals:
- An art mural class to create large-scale murals for the entire school
- A personal finance course to provide students with financial literacy skills
- An advanced digital dark room photography course
- New computer science courses to include an introduction to computers, web programming, web design and software development.
Adding new programs does come with a cost - eliminating other courses. The district proposes eliminating classes that are either redundant or have little to no enrollment.
The courses proposed for elimination next school year include:
- Two Advanced Placement physics classes, covering mechanics of physics and electricity and magnetism, which school officials say can be covered in other physics courses still being offered.
- An American literature and composition class, of which can be covered in English classes.
- Applied Math 2, which hasn't been held in years due to no enrollment, according to school officials.
- Math problem solving.
- Voice lessons, which hasn't been offered in years.
"We are consolidating and offering less of the duplicative stuff and focusing in on what can serve kids best in a single shot rather than waste their time in courses that will give them the same thing again," said superintendent of schools Elliott Landon.
Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The board also discussed how budget cuts has affected the school district and whether similar cuts will be necessary for next year. While no action was taken, the board said they've seen:
- Bigger class sizes in the high school
- Fewer music courses
- Less instructional equipment
- Fewer paraprofessionals, which sometimes causes the school libraries to close due to lack of staff
- Staggered dismissal times that has caused some safety concerns
- Lack of enough instructional supplies
- Postponed maintenance needs, especially painting.
The board will continue to consider these and other items as it prepares the budget for the next school year.
Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here
