25 Mar PUSD Students Could Get GPA Boost for LMC Courses

The Pittsburg Unified school board heard two measures on March 19 that could help make students better prepared for college or their careers. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

High schoolers in the Pittsburg Unified School District — 26% of whom were considered college and career ready by the state last year — are on track to get two new ways to boost their college and career readiness. 

Those would be a GPA boost for students enrolled in dual-enrollment and course offerings that would create a computer science career pathway at Black Diamond High School. 

“It’s a blessing falling into your lap,” said Pittsburg Unified school board member Destiny Briscoe about the pathway at the March 19 meeting. “This is why Black Diamond High School will continue to be a model continuation high school — bringing fresh ideas and new opportunities to their students.” 

The pathway, which would be the first at Black Diamond and funded through a grant, plans to offer courses in drone technology, artificial intelligence and the gaming industry. Students were most interested in technology being the focus of the pathway, according to the district’s secondary education coordinator Kirsten Wollenweber. 

The proposed courses will come back to the board for approval, according to the course concept timeline, before being added to the course catalog later this year. 

“By offering this course at the high school level,” one of the course descriptions reads, “students gain early exposure to cutting-edge technology while developing valuable 21st-century skills that will serve them in college, careers and beyond.” 

Despite Black Diamond being named a model continuation high school by the state in 2024 for the third consecutive year, barriers by the state can make it difficult for continuation schools to have career technical education courses, said Superintendent Janet Schulze. 

“There are very few continuation high schools who have any kind of CTE courses because of the requirements,” she said. 

The school, which served just over 200 students last year, had 0.7% prepared for college or a career, according to data from the California Department of Education. That’s on par with other continuation schools in the county like Bidwell High in Antioch and Sylvester Greenwood Academy in Richmond but 29% less than Pittsburg High. 

The state College/Career Indicator takes into account things like graduation rate, state test scores and college courses, but their accuracy has been debated. Though a report praised some of California’s methods in 2023, researchers said deficiencies remained. 

Still, PUSD has high expectations for students — one of those being that all graduating students earn 10 college credits through dual enrollment at Los Medanos College. 

Student leaders say the additional incentive of a GPA boost for dual-enrolled students would help them get ahead and increase participation. 

“I didn’t do as many community college classes as I would’ve liked because it did not boost my GPA, and I wanted the boost so my transcript would look good,” wrote Sa’Niyah Major, who graduated from PUSD last year. “Now, as I’m in college, I’m falling behind because I have less credits than my peers.” 

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The proposal, brought forward by the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council, would give a one-point boost to a student’s GPA if they earn a passing grade in a dual-enrollment course. 

Advanced Placement and honors courses offered already give students a GPA boost but don’t give students college credit unless they receive a high enough score on an AP exam. 

The Palo Alto Unified School District and the Mountain View Los Altos High School District, the Student Advisory Council said, also give students a GPA boost for dual enrollment courses. 

While the proposal was not voted on, board members agreed to refer the students’ recommendations to the legislative committee to create a formal policy.

“This seems like a no-brainer,” said board president Heliodoro Moreno. “It’s safe to say you were all able to help change the policy here in PUSD.”