One of the nicest things I’ve seen recently came from a group of East parents who are determined to make sure the CITS course offerings at Denfeld measure up with those at East High. They have started an online petition among East students and parents in support of fair treatment. Alanna Oswald who seems to catch every bit of important intelligence in this District forward this to me.
CITS is College in the Schools. The petition is apparently only meant for East parents and students so I won’t make the link to it generally available. I hope the Greyhounds are good at getting it out to their folks because I’d like to see a lot of names on it.
Duluth East Parents and Students Support CITS Opportunities at Denfeld
A few notes about this petition……….This came out of multiple discussions with my own East HS kids about how they are benefiting from CITS classes and that not everyone in the school district has the same opportunity. I feel strongly that we have a responsibility to speak up and voice support for equal opportunity, particularly if we are benefiting from classes currently. So, we talked about this for many weeks and wrote this petition together. This is strictly coming from us and not from the school directly. We also talked about how this issue is complicated and that we know the district has been tackling it, however, we felt support from the East parent/student community could be stronger. We hope you see the positive intentions behind this.
We, parents and students from Duluth’s East High School, want to express our support for finding a solution to providing the college in the schools courses that are needed and desired at Denfeld High School. We feel it is not fair that the decision to have one school larger than the other would limit the opportunities for students in the district (Duluth News Tribune article, November 13, 2016). As we know, these classes benefit the students who want to take them not only because they provide more in-depth learning on a topic of interest but they reduce the overall cost of higher education after students graduate. It is unfair to not provide equal access to these classes for all Duluth students. To clarify, the same classes are offered but it appears as if they are offered as single section courses and therefore difficult to fit into a course schedule. Therefore, the issue is “access” not what is offered.
We understand that the Duluth School District is very aware of this situation and is also interested in finding a solution but we suggest that this become a priority. It also seems to make sense that other entities that might benefit from more highly educated and trained students, like the health systems, be brought in to help solve this issue.
So, as East High School students and parents we want to express our appreciation for the classes offered at our school but strongly support a solution that offers the same opportunities to all students in the Duluth Public Schools. Results of the petition will be shared at an upcoming school board meeting. Thank you!
