Dual enrollment refers to programs in which students can enroll at 2 different schools for academic benefits. While beneficial and educational, a growing number of students are beginning to ask for something more: using dual enrollment to cover their high school classes.
The basics of the concept in question are simple: students would only attend school for the classes that they absolutely need, covering the rest using dual enrollment. While a new concept, this isn’t to say that there isn’t any support or movement around this system. Three recently interviewed students, Timothy Winburn, Joaquin Torres-Uribe, and Travis Maxwell, have echoed their thoughts on this potential system.
When questioned as to whether or not such a system should be implemented at Coral Springs Charter, all interviewees gave a resolute yes. Joaquin reasoned that dual enrollment courses often do a much better job at teaching students than regular courses, saying that “the dual enrollment version, despite being shorter, can be both more rigorous and informative.” Travis added that another plus to dual enrollment courses is that they lack the inconveniences often found in high school classes. These include “busy work, distractions from other students messing around, and sometimes teachers who just can’t properly teach the students to a good understanding of course material.”
While interviews in isolation do not provide much insight into the opinion of the student body, a recent student poll supports the beliefs of the interviewees. In the student poll, 100% of students polled agreed that such a system should be implemented. However, when asked how many classes they’d prefer to cover using dual enrollment, there were a range of answers. Around 61% of those polled advocated for all 8 classes to be coverable by dual enrollment. However, the remaining 39% of students’ answers varied from 8 classes to 4 being coverable. It is clear that amongst students, there is massive support for this system.
However, Ms. Pepe, the Guidance Director and School Counselor for 12th grade, provided a unique perspective regarding this system. While well aware of the system in question, when asked whether or not such a system could work at Coral Springs Charter, she gave a hard “no”. The first thing she cited was the low likelihood of the school board approving such a proposal. She later went on to add that while such a system works great in public schools that suffer from overpopulation, “we don’t have that flexibility here.” Another point mentioned was the fact that schools are given funding based on student attendance. If Charter were to implement this system, “our funding would be lowered, we wouldn’t be able to offer the services that we do for our students.”
An interesting point brought up during the interview was the necessity for “kids to be kids”. While working on extracurricular activities is definitely encouraged, Ms. Pepe emphasized the need for students to enjoy their high school years while it lasts.
As of recent, many county schools which have this system in place are being forced to limit it. Ms. Pepe mentioned that this is likely because the schools in question are feeling the financial impacts of such a system. No matter how the situation is handled, this topic is very complex and will require much debate. This has been Charter After Dark, reporting for the Paw Print newspaper.
