By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
A municipal liaison from Howell has asked Freehold Regional High School District administrators to determine if students at Howell High School are being offered an equal number of advanced placement (AP) courses as students at the district’s other five high schools.
Joan Leimbach, the Howell Township Council’s liaison to the FRHSD, said that in terms of AP course offerings and interest, information she received indicated that Howell may have fewer AP courses. Figures provided by Leimbach were from the 2000-01 school year.
Leimbach also said, "Howell is the only high school not holding AP Studio Art, yet it houses the Fine and Performing Arts Center."
Current information provided to Greater Media Newspapers on Jan. 17 by Ilse Whisner, public information coordinator for the FRHSD, indicates there are eight AP courses offered at Colts Neck High School; 13 AP courses offered at Freehold Borough, Freehold Township and Manalapan high schools; 14 AP courses offered at Marlboro High School; and 15 AP courses offered at Howell.
The numbers indicate how many different AP subject courses are taught and not the number of classes within each subject course area. The number of classes varies considerably, according to Whisner, who noted that one example of this is at Manalapan where there are seven classes in AP Psychology.
"Howell does not have as many classes within certain course subject areas," she said.
The number of students taking AP courses is as follows, according to the public information coordinator:
• At Colts Neck, 127 out of 1,095 students (11.5 percent).
• At Freehold Borough, 276 out of 1,099 students (25 percent).
• At Freehold Township, 393 out of 1,906 students (21 percent).
• At Howell, 261 out of 1,664 students (16 percent).
• At Manalapan, 659 out of 2,266 students (29 percent).
• At Marlboro, 520 out of 2,203 students (23.5 percent).
There are several variables to be considered in looking at the number of students taking AP courses, Whisner said.
She noted, for example, that Colts Neck has many English as a Second Language students who might not necessarily be taking AP courses, and that some schools may have an enrollment which contains more special education and/or basic skills students who may not be involved in AP courses.
Whisner said AP Studio Art, one of the courses that Leimbach said is not taught at Howell, is taught at Colts Neck, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township and Marlboro.
"Howell has the learning center for Fine and Performing Arts which is geared to acting, dance, video production and writing/publishing," said Whisner. "Whereas AP Studio Art is, as the name implies, college level work in studio art. It’s a different kind of art."
FRHSD Board of Education member Terry Kraft of Howell said at a recent meeting that the board has to look at whether there are students who want courses and are not getting them.
Whisner reiterated, "Howell teaches the largest number of AP subject courses in the district, but there may be fewer students involved with certain subjects."
That’s what the board will be looking at in the near future, she said.
"Numbers themselves do not tell the whole story," said Whisner.