Henrico School Board approves new AP African American Studies course, other expanded offerings

The Henrico School Board approved several new courses for the 2024-2025 school year, including the new Advanced Placement African American Studies course.

The Virginia Department of Education approved the course in September to be taught at Virginia high schools after concluding that it did not violate Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order banning “the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory.”

The College Board recently made updates to the course that removed several topics, including Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations, and queer life, after facing criticism from government officials. The course gained national attention earlier this year when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would ban it from being taught in Florida schools.

AP African American Studies will be offered at all Henrico Schools high schools starting next school year. If not enough students sign up for the course at their school, accommodations can be made for students to take the course virtually or at another school.

The school board approved a number of other new courses as well, most for high school students, including Teacher Apprenticeship I and II, Firefighting I and II, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and American Sign Language II.

Tuckahoe District school board member Marcie Shea said that expanding the American Sign Language program not only helps the hearing-impaired community but also allows students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia to take a foreign language and complete the language component of the Advanced Studies Diploma.

All high school students now can take American Sign Language through the Henrico Virtual Academy. ASL I is offered for all high school students, while ASL II is offered at schools that already have the piloted ASL I course.

School board members applauded the division for continuing to offer more course opportunities for students.

“We offer so many things in Henrico,” Shea said. “Some of the additions like PT [Physical Therapy], OT [Occupational Therapy], Firefighting, Environmental Physics, Unmanned Aircraft Systems. I mean it’s incredible.”

Students with disabilities who have an individual education plan, or IEP, or 504 plan can now access accommodations, approved by the Board of Education, that provide alternatives for meeting the requirements of the Advanced Studies Diploma, according to the 2024-2025 HCPS Planning Guide.

The Applied Studies Diploma is another option offered by the VDOE for students with IEPs. However, students who receive this diploma may not qualify for financial aid when applying to college.

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HCPS officials also shared that in the past five years, the school division had seen more involvement from underrepresented student groups in advanced coursework – including honors, AP, International Baccalaureate, and dual enrollment courses.

Since the 2018-2019 school year, more Black students, Latino students, economically disadvantaged students, English learners, and students with disabilities have participated in advanced courses. However, these groups still remain underrepresented in advanced classes, while white students, Asian students, and students of multiple races remain overrepresented.

HCPS uses an equity index formula to measure representation in advanced classes, with a score under 1 indicating underrepresentation and a score above 1 indicating overrepresentation. In 2018-2019, students with disabilities had a score of 0.46 and English learners had a score of 0.21; in 2022-2023, students with disabilities had a score of 0.58 and English learners had a score of 0.39.

“It’s evident that students with disabilities and English learners still face underrepresentation, although, there have been improvements,” HCPS Director of High School Education Thomas Ferrell said. “Our ultimate goal is to guarantee that all graduating students have had the opportunity to access and enroll in advanced high school coursework.”

Since 2018-2019, Ferrell said HCPS has seen “steady growth” among all students in AP and dual enrollment involvement. The number of AP class sections increased 29% in the past five years and the number of dual enrollment sections increased 39%.

While only five high schools currently offer dual-enrollment classes, which award students a high school credit as well as a college credit, HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell said that an additional one or two high schools will offer these classes next school year.

Outgoing Fairfield District member Roscoe Cooper encouraged the school system to continue expanding dual enrollment to more students, saying that it is a “game-changer” for families with limited means. Cooper said one HCPS student was able to graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree from J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College this past school year after participating in dual enrollment, putting her two years ahead at college.

“Within a week’s time frame, she graduated from Highland Springs, with her associate’s degree from Reynolds,” Cooper said. “I was at that graduation as well as Highland Springs. And she’s now a junior at William and Mary. So she’s two years in, fresh out of high school, and it was a moment of pride because she represents what this program represents.”

School board chair and Brookland District member Kristi Kinsella also urged the board to expand dual enrollment.

“Five of our nine high schools have it – that means four of our high schools don’t,” she said. “Any time I hear that we don’t have it across Henrico Schools, it does trouble me.”

Cashwell said that while the division is working to expand individual dually enrolled courses to more high schools, any high-schooler can apply for one of the division’s dual enrollment centers, which allows students to be fully dually enrolled and graduate with an associate’s degree.

The challenge, Cashwell said, is getting more HCPS teachers certified to teach dual-enrollment classes. Teachers are required to have a master’s degree in the subject area being taught and an additional 18 credit hours.

HCPS officials also shared that the school system now offers 2,038 work-based learning experiences, including internships, externships, mentorships, service learning experiences, and other opportunities. Many are offered through the HCPS’ expanded Career & Technical Education program.

“Real life experiences where a kid gets the chance to try something out – I think that is such a valuable time,” outgoing Three Chopt District member Micky Ogburn said. “The kids get a chance to see if something works for them and if it doesn’t. And that doesn’t work is also just as important as it does, because it helps them fine-tune and focus on what they are interested in.”

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Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.