The District 233 school board approved four new courses for students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School at the Oct. 15 meeting, but two — an LGBTQ+ English course and consumer economics — failed to get unanimous votes.
The LGBTQ+ Lives and Literature course for English 3 drew considerable discussion about equity, academics and student interest.
Director of Curriculum Jen Hester told board members teachers in the English Department have been asking for the course the past three years and it was recommended by the Teaching and Learning Council. The course will have students focus on composition, reading and analysis of text. It will give students a way to challenge social norms and cultural identity.
Hester said students grades 9, 10 and 11 were surveyed about their interest in new courses, including the LGBTQ+ lit course, and about a quarter of the more than 1,100 respondents said they might or would be interested in taking the course.
The English Department is the process of collecting texts for the course, Hester said. She believes “in terms of life readiness this aligns, also in resiliency, problem solving, character and other areas.”
Board member Nate Legardy said his personal opinion was the proposed course “crosses the line in terms of what high school should be offering to minors. The justification for this course was because it was of interest to the student body. I caution this body, I include the administration, to try to look ahead.”
Board President Gerald Pauling said he appreciated Legardy’s position, but he believes the LGBTQ+ lit course met H-F’s mission to prepare students for life “and this course exposes them to that type of preparation…and perspectives and viewpoints and narratives that will help them” in the future. Pauling said the course is forward looking.
“I think this is a way to expand the lens of our student population,” member Cynthia Turnquest said.
The final vote was 5-2 with members Legardy and Pam Jackson voting against the new course.
Consumer Economics
The board also took a vote on developing a one-semester consumer economics course. Hester said it would meet a state mandate and give students information they can use in the future. The course will cover financial literacy, debt, budgeting, saving, income taxes and interest rates.
She said the consumer economics part of H-F’s economics course is what students enjoy the most. That part of economics is taught in six weeks, but the state requires nine weeks. H-F would make the course a full semester, or 13 weeks. Hester said the proposal would give students the chance to take the state mandated government course one semester and consumer economics the second semester.
H-F has an economics course requirement for graduation under its social studies mandate. The board didn’t entertain a change to that requirement.
“That might not be something we ultimately decide to do,” Pauling said.
Before the 6-1 vote, Legardy issued a caution “to make sure students aren’t falling short of graduation requirements.” He was the no vote on the new consumer economics course.
Professional Textile Construction
A new course in the Career and Technical Education department of Professional Textile Construction will build upon the current Clothing Construction curriculum. Hester said H-F is working on a dual credit arrangement that would give H-F students completing the Professional Textile Construction course college credit through Prairie State College.
Global Voices
The board approved a Global Voices in Literature English 4 course. The curriculum will have students explore the works of authors from various cultural backgrounds, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, neuro-divergency, geo-political, socioeconomic status. Students will analyze how these texts reflect and challenge societal norms, stereotypes, power dynamics, cultural identities fostering empathy, understanding and critical thinking skills.
It is expected that some authors will overlap with H-F’s African American Literature course, including Ralph Ellison, Brit Bennett, August Wilson and Toni Morrison. Global Voices authors may include Elizabeth Acevedo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mohsin Hamid, Marjane Satrapi and Kazuo Ishiguro.