School Officials Resign to Protest Honors Classes

Saying the implementation of honors classes for ninth- and 10th-graders will lead to segregation, the principal and two assistant administrators of Gilroy High School have resigned in protest.

The pilot honors program will place top students in separate English and social studies classes, instead of mixing them with students of all abilities.

The administrators worry that parents of students from Spanish-speaking homes--65% of the school’s students--won’t know the classes exist and won’t encourage their children to take them.

But a group of parents, teachers and community members who pushed for the honors program maintains that the classes will be open to all students. They say the school’s real problem is it doesn’t challenge top students.