Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • September 22, 2010 FLOW Area Parents and students support University Programs by Frank J. McMahon About 75 parents and students attended last week’s Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education meeting to voice their support for the regional high school district’s University Programs. The school board is considering a recommendation by the board’s Education Committee to phase out three of the University Programs over the next four years. The committee wants to redesign the information technology, theater arts, and communications programs to eliminate the four-year commitment previously required to participate, and to enable all district students to take those classes. Many parents and students, however, want the board to keep the programs in tack, at least for another year, and to aggressively market the programs to eighth grade students entering the district next year. Thirty people, a mixture of parents and students, spoke in glowing terms about the benefits of the programs. One parent alleged that the board has a substantial lack of knowledge about the programs and their interrelationship and said the board has not done an analysis of the core content of the programs. Another said the decreased enrollment in the programs is due to a lack of effort to market the programs to new students and the unprofessional presentations at the annual Open Houses for the University Programs. One parent recommended that parents be permitted to help at the annual Open Houses for these programs and to let junior and senior students in the programs talk to potential University Program parents about the programs. An Oakland graduate of the theater arts program told the board it was the best experience of her life. Other students praised the programs for the selfconfidence they received from them and the feeling of family they have with their fellow students in the programs. Many parents spoke about the college admissions benefits their children received by attending these programs and how these programs have elevated the reputation of the high schools with colleges and universities around the country. Jane Castor, chairwoman of the Education Committee, assured the parents and students that the board is listening to their opinions and that no final decision has yet been made about the University Programs. An Education Committee report authored by committee member Ira Belsky explained that one of the board’s goals for 2010-11 is to review and evaluate the district’s University Programs, the oldest of which has been offered since 1999. He advised that this process began with an overall review by the administration followed by a series of meetings of the Education Committee that involved, among others, district leadership, school leadership, and University Program leaders. “The benefits of the University Programs are many and are not lightly considered by the committee,” Belsky stated. “However, the committee is also sensitive to the fact that some students would like to take some classes offered by some University Programs, but have been unable to do so since they did not make the full four-year commitment to a program.” According to Belsky, the review of the University Programs centered on the concentrated focus of each program and the exclusionary nature of their classes. This focus, Belsky said, is a cumulative system of study wherein the prior year’s work builds a foundation for further intensive exploration of the subject matter of each program in subsequent years and it has dictated that participation in the programs be limited to those willing to commit to four years of intensive study of a relatively restricted subject matter. “The byproduct of this focus and four-year commitment is the necessary exclusion of non-program students from classes that might otherwise be of interest to them,” Belsky stated, “but which they are prohibited from enrolling in because they aren’t taking the other courses mandated by the specific University Program. “The tension between the value of an educational program with a more enhanced focus on a particular subject matter, and the exclusion of otherwise interested students who do not want to narrow their elective field of study, presents a challenge to the district in trying to find the appropriate balance between providing concentrated study programs and providing equal educational opportunities for all students,” Belsky explained. Belsky advised that the committee came to the judgment that excluding students from University Program courses is not advisable in those instances where a program lacks a critical mass of students sufficient to justify the dedicated resources necessary to maintain the program on a restricted basis. “In reaching this judgment, the committee weighed the benefits derived from a concentrated program of study against the exclusionary nature of these programs. In so doing, it balanced the interest of students desiring the more focused study program against the interests of students desiring to take program courses but unwilling to commit to a four-year term of study.” According to Belsky, the committee determined that denying other students the opportunity to take University Program courses could not be justified (continued on page 19) 304 S. 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