LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I am a proud advocate for our local schools. I have been involved with community efforts to pass school bonds. I work with local nonprofits to support students and schools. Every semester, I volunteer with an elementary afterschool program.
I am also a parent of San Marcos CISD students. All three of my kids have attended elementary through high school in San Marcos. My kids do their schoolwork and participate in extracurricular activities. I attend school events and support their programs. We are an involved family, in partnership with our schools, to help our kids be as successful as possible.
For several years, the high school has not completed student class schedules by the first day of school. While I understand some adjustments will always be made, this year was particularly frustrating.
Last spring, my child worked with the high school counselor to develop a course schedule that included dual-credit college courses. As parents, we received the schedule plans and signed off on taking dual credit. High school staff went above and beyond to ensure my child completed the requirements to take dual credit. We even enrolled in ACC as instructed to prepare for dual credit coursework.
On the first day of school, my child was given a new schedule and told that dual credit was no longer available for their enrollment. In an apparent surprise to many staff members, the district suddenly switched from ACC to Texas State for dual credit courses. While a Texas State partnership is great for our community, the agreement for this dual credit program was not even signed until Monday, August 26th. This was already into the third week of the high school semester.
This year’s schedule chaos changes affect more than my child, as marching band now conflicts with dual-credit courses. It is unbelievable that the district overlooked band kids having the option to take dual college credit courses. In conversations with other high school parents, I’ve heard similar problems, including some athletic programs conflicting with AP courses. I’ve had too many conversations with fellow parents left scrambling because class schedules are incomplete, incorrect or unexpectedly changed at the start of the year.
Our athletic and fine arts programs are amazing. Student participation in these events should not prevent their academic success. When speaking with friends with kids in other public schools, those schools do not have this chronic problem of unprepared high school course schedules. Their children are actively involved in various extracurriculars, all while being able to enter college with enough college credit to be classified as sophomores.
Schedules are complex. Adjustments are required. But there should not be this level of confusion and surprise every first day of the school year. Planning, communication, and follow- through help minimize schedule conflicts, give school staff time to rework class availability as needed, and prepare students to have a strong start for the school year. Unfortunately, it seems district leaders are content to let scheduling problems continue with assurances everything will be resolved in a few weeks or fixed next year. Letting this same problem happen every year does not help current students this year.
If my child turned in incomplete and incorrect homework, I expect the teacher to hold my student accountable. Superintendent Cardona should be held to a similar standard. Instead of excuses or shifting responsibility, the superintendent is ultimately accountable for how our schools are run. The start date of school is published and well communicated. District leadership should model how they expect students to approach their high school careers.
I am grateful for the care and attention our teachers and staff provide our students amidst these recurring challenges. In addition to celebrating new initiatives with district leadership selfies, I hope district leadership will put the same energy, enthusiasm, and accountability into resolving chronic, avoidable schedule problems so as many students as possible at San Marcos High School can take high-level academic courses, participate in amazing extracurricular activities, and be ready for first-day classes and life-long success. Todd Salmi
