A Breakthrough For Divided D-86 Board?

HINSDALE, IL — The divided board for Hinsdale High School District 86 may have found common ground on one of the district's most controversial issues — the science curriculum.

In the April election, anger over the district's changes to the math and science curriculums was believed to have powered a new majority to victory.

Last month, the board voted 4-3 to reverse the previous board's decision to launch an "integrated" math curriculum. This was despite the pleadings of the district's administration to keep it.

Next on the agenda was the science curriculum. In late 2019, the board voted to reverse the traditional sequence of science classes, following Hinsdale South High School's longtime practice. Under the changes, students would take physics as freshmen, chemistry as sophomores and biology as juniors, with each class including earth science concepts.

Proponents of the new sequence argued it was a logical progression because chemistry uses physics concepts and biology uses chemistry concepts.

At last week's board meeting, the new members expressed concern that the new sequence's Physics in the Universe class for freshmen did not include all the material of regular physics classes.

Previously, members asked the district to provide the costs of offering both sequences to students. According to the administration's presentation last week, the price tag would be more than $1.6 million, requiring the hiring of a number of teachers.

The administration also offered a compromise option, which would give students a few more options — for instance, AP Physics 1. The cost increase would be negligible.

During a more than two-hour discussion, member Jeff Waters said he preferred offering two sequences, despite the added costs. He said science was an important part of the educational experience in District 86.

"It costs $1.6 million. Considering the budget is $118 million, I don't believe that a 1.5 percent increase is an insurmountable task to have both offerings," Waters said.

Well into the debate, it seemed as if some board members were prepared to go with two sequences. That did not sit well with the administration, which noted the science teachers themselves created the curriculum.

In reaction to the discussion, Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said the district would need its science teachers to help with "myth-busting."

Assistant Superintendent Chris Covino said he was concerned the board may ask the science teachers to create a curriculum for the biology-chemistry-physics sequence.

"They have designed a curriculum based on the Illinois Science Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards," Covino said. "If we were to get direction to write new courses, what standards would we use? We have already used the standards to write the courses we should be teaching. There are no other standards that are used."

He said he would not want to put teachers in the position of defending their curriculum writing to the school board.

"The question of whether or not we can write an entirely different sequence is based on the premise that our current sequence does not use correct standards or enough of them. That is flatly false. They started with the end in mind, with those standards in mind," Covino said.

Not long after, board members said they wanted to explore the compromise option. If the board ends up choosing that option, that would mean the new sequence of science classes is likely to stay largely intact.

The board did not take a vote. It is expected to get another presentation on the science curriculum in October.

The new curriculum is set to start in 2023.