Community members can voice opinions today about a proposal to add more honors classes to the local school curriculum — either online or in a hybrid form with regular classes.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board’s proposal to add honors social studies and science classes arose from concerns that some students were bored in regular classes and felt pressure to take Advanced Placement classes to raise GPAs.
The system does not currently offer honors classes in core science and social studies classes.
ATTEND THE MEETING
Time: 7 p.m. today
Location: Chapel Hill Town Hall
Info: chccs.k12.nc.us
“The board asked in December that we bring back a proposal that would offer honors classes face-to-face or virtually,” said Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Neil Pedersen.
The proposal suggests honors science and social studies courses, except world history, be offered online for the 2010-11 school year through the North Carolina Virtual Public School program.
Then the courses would transition to the classroom beginning the following year, with the eventual goal of replacing standard-level courses with honors level by 2015-16.
But some teachers worry the online proposal could degrade the quality of education, while the hybrid proposal could complicate lesson plans.
“How can you provide a lab experience online?” Bert Wartski, a Chapel Hill High School science teacher, wrote in an e-mail.