Officials from Georgia’s largest school district said Thursday that they have no problem with paying to offer Advanced Placement African American Studies, but will not do so until they are assured students will receive proper credit from the state.
Gwinnett County Public Schools has been embroiled in the fallout from state School Superintendent Richard Woods’ decision not to endorse approval of the AP course, meaning districts offering the course would not receive state funding for it.
The Gwinnett district’s letter to parents stating it was not offering the course circulated online and set off ripples of confusion and criticism across the state. In total, 240 students at six schools are affected.
Deputy Superintendent Nikki Mouton said Gwinnett’s initial decision was made out of caution.
“We don’t want our students taking an Advanced Placement course they can’t receive all the rewards for. So at the time, it made sense for us to say, ‘It’s not state-sanctioned so we’re not able to offer this course,’” Mouton said at a school board meeting Thursday.
District officials and school board members made it clear that they want to provide the course and acknowledged the ways Woods and his office said they could do so. But Mouton said there still is too much uncertainty for Gwinnett to feel comfortable proceeding.
Georgia Department of Education spokeswoman Meghan Frick said districts can use an existing code for African American studies and change the content to reflect the AP course. She also said Wednesday that it’s up to districts whether to offer an AP level of quality: “Grading, quality points, and weighted GPAs are all determined at the local level and within the local district’s authority.”
District officials said they don’t have influence over grades in consequential circumstances, such as when GPAs are submitted for consideration to earn HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships.
Course codes connect to how a student’s GPA is calculated, and AP course codes have additional GPA points, Chief Accountability Officer Jewelle Harmon said. The state’s African American studies course is not coded as an AP course, she said, and the district cannot change that, even for scholarship consideration.
Harmon said the district’s focus is more on ensuring proper credit for students than it is on state funds, but “we’ll take it if it’s offered.”
Mouton also noted the existing African American studies course is one semester while the AP course is two. Mouton said the district has asked how to make that situation work for students’ credits.
She said the district is in touch with the state, but these questions had not been answered.
Superintendent Calvin Watts “has already committed that we will fund (this course) as well, if we get answers to all of these other questions and it makes sense doing what’s right for students,” Mouton said.
The Atlanta and DeKalb County school districts have each said they plan to offer the course in the fall as planned and will use local funds. Cobb said it planned a “proof of concept” for the course and will proceed with it.
Gwinnett school board members commended the staff for working with the parameters presented but advocated for the state to approve the course. They also charged the community to get involved.
Board member Tarece Johnson-Morgan called the state’s suggestion a workaround and said, “We don’t want that. We want the AP credit and the AP course.”
The discussion of the course occurred Thursday afternoon, simultaneous with the state Board of Education’s meeting. District officials said they were monitoring to see whether the board would make a statement on the course or perhaps even approve it without Woods’ blessing.
However, AP African American Studies was not mentioned at the state board’s meeting.
