The Smyrna Board of Education has been asked to consider a change in the way courses are weighted at Smyrna High School.
At the Nov. 18 Smyrna Board of Education meeting, student board member and SHS student Emiley Conboy suggested a realignment of course weights for college prep, honors and advanced placement (AP)classes.
The current weights are 1.03 for college prep, 1.05 for honors, and 1.06 for AP courses.
Conboy said these weights give students an extra boost in GPA for taking classes that are the regular option. She also said the current .01 weight difference between honors and AP courses does not accurately represent the disparity in workload and difficulty. This small weight difference provides little incentive for students to take AP courses, she asserted.
Some teachers and students at the high school are concerned about this issue, Conboy said.
As an alternative, she proposed that the weights be changed to 1.00 for college prep, 1.03 for honors, and 1.06 for AP courses.
After Conboy’s presentation, board member Chris Malec said that an additional incentive for the AP courses is the chance to earn college credit.
But board member Lynne Newlin said the district might need to examine how it’s weighting courses compared to other districts in the area.
“Maybe we do need to look at that,” Newlin said.
