School Board Backs International Baccalaureate Program

The Hauppauge school board gave its blessing to the International Baccalaureate Diploma program Tuesday night, clearing the way for the controversial curriculum to be taught at Hauppauge High School.

The board voted 4 to 2.

"I think that the best thing a school district can provide is increased rigor, providing training that makes our students not only prepared to enter college but to actually get out the other side," said Board President Geri Richter. "I think IB provides rigor more than AP."

Board vice president Eileen Mass said a concerned resident convinced her to back the program. “I have been all over the map. I have gone from yes to no to maybe to I don’t know until today when we received an email. It reminded me good isn’t good enough,” she said.

The International Baccalaureate program focuses student learning on six core areas: English; a language other than english, social studies, experimental sciences, mathematics and the arts. IB Diploma candidates also take a theory of knowledge course, write a 4,000 extended essay and complete 150 hours of "creativity, action and service," time spent ranging from sports to community service.

The IB program is taught at 3,290 schools in 141 countries, according to the nonprofit organization's website.

Trustees Susan Hodosky and Patricia Lesser also voted in favor of the IB program. Hodosky said she had concerns about co-seating IB and AP students in the same classroom and asked it be monitored closely in the future. But board members Robert Schnebel and Ginger Todor voted against the program based on the cost and possible redundancies in the curriculum.

“I am concerned about the economy and whether we can sustain a program like this,” Todoro said.

Schnebel said he has fiscal concerns given the programs costs versus New York State’s newly approved 2 percent tax cap on school districts. He said the new common core curriculum being implemented by New York State will infuse similar problem solving and project-based learning into the district’s academic curriculum.

Since an brought the district's move towards the IB program into the spotlight in February, parents have expressed everything from concern over the program's more than $100,000 start-up costs  given to the need for more challenging academic courses in Hauppauge.

In Patch's non-scientific poll on Tuesday, readers split with 14 voting in favor of adopting the IB program with 15 votes against it.

The board’s approval allows Hauppauge school administrators to host a site visit with IB program officials on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, the last step in the district’s application to be recognized as an International Baccalaureate school. The district will need approval from that visit to fully begin the IB program at Hauppauge in the 2012-2013 school year.