When Wilmot High School student Craig Manarik signed up for Calculus 2 at UW-Parkside through the Youth Options program, he was looking forward to earning college credit and boosting his post graduation chances for landing the college of his choice.
However, he was shocked to learn that the ‘B’ he received dropped his GPA and class standing, and more surprisingly, if he had taken a similar course through the school’s AP program, the ‘B’ grade would have been weighted to reflect the course’s difficulty.
The youth options program allows 11th and 12th grade public high school students to enroll in a private college, university, technical college or tribally controlled college to take one or more courses that earn both high school and college credit.
His father, John Manarik approached the Board of Education and requested a change in the value of college courses to reflect the value of the AP courses.
“If we had known that his GPA would have dropped due to taking this class, he might have opted not to take this course,†said John, who asked the board to re-evaluate the policy. “We aren’t asking for the college courses to receive a higher value than AP course-we are just asking for the same value as the classes are quite difficult.â€
The board agreed to re-evaluate the current Youth Options program and said they would contact the Manariks after they make a decision on the college courses.
