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The Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees recently greenlit a policy to limit high school students’ enrollment in advanced coursework, barring certain exceptions, as part of a broader effort to support their well-being.
Under the policy, students can take no more than four Advanced Placement or honors courses per academic year, beginning with the 2026-27 year. A cumulative cap of 11 AP or honors courses during students’ high school careers will also be established starting with the class of 2029. The limits are not retroactive, Superintendent Chris Funk wrote to the DUSD community Jan. 16 explaining the policy.
The rules do not apply to dual or concurrent enrollment college coursework, career technical education, honors visual and performing arts or honors applied arts. Additional exceptions may be issued in select circumstances.
The new enrollment policy will not disadvantage students in their college applications because entrance reviews are based on each home school’s offerings and expectations, Funk said.
However, during the Jan. 13 school board meeting where trustees unanimously supported the policy, the vast majority of approximately 30 public commenters expressed discontent over the new rules.
“By setting thoughtful boundaries around course loads, this change encourages students to pursue depth, balance and genuine engagement in their learning while still remaining fully competitive for college admission,” Funk wrote after the meeting.
Leading up to the Jan. 13 meeting, district and site leaders have expressed mounting concern over several months about students’ stress, anxiety and burnout, especially for high schoolers, according to a meeting memo prepared by Funk.
Academic pressure is growing, he recounted of the input from principals and counselors, and enrollment decisions for the sake of college applications are increasingly impacting students.
“It is not, by itself, a solution to the complex pressures and stresses of high school life,” Funk said of the resolution. “Rather, it is one intentional action aimed at alleviating one known contributing factor, academic over-stacking, that research and lived experience associated with increased stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation and disengagement for many students.”
But according to students such as Rohan Devnani of Emerald High School, the resolution will not be effective in relieving pressure.
“An AP cap not only removes the ability for students to discover what they truly enjoy, but does not actually address the problem of academic stress,” Devnani said during the meeting. “I’m assuming this proposal was made with good intentions in mind, but it was not made with community.”
Additional commenters expressed concern over students responding to the cap by enrolling in external courses such as those offered at Las Positas College.
Parent Veena Devarakonda also expressed sorrow during the public comment period for two Emerald High School students who have died in what she described as “tragic circumstances”.
“Academic pressure is real, and AP coursework can be overwhelming for some students, but limiting APs alone does not address the root causes of why our children are struggling,” Devarakonda said.
Board Trustee Kristian Reyes during the meeting agreed that the enrollment limits cannot single-handedly alleviate pressure on students.
“I know this is just one step and not everything the district needs to do to promote mental health,” Reyes said. “This is a first step, but I think it is a necessary step that this district needs to take.”
As Funk explained in his letter, the resolution does not claim that academic pressure is the sole or primary cause of every students’ crisis nor does it minimize other contributing factors such as social pressures, mental health challenges or issues beyond school, he added.
The new rule is part of the district’s wider efforts to promote student well-being, including the expansion of mental health services and wellness resources available to all students as well as the formation of family advisory groups and feedback opportunities to improve crisis-prevention efforts and crisis supports, Funk said.
DUSD is also launching a community speaker series to cover subjects such as mental health and wellness, recognizing suicidal ideation and warning signs, the realities of college admission and methods for reducing unhealthy pressures, Funk said.
Supporting students’ well-being is a community-wide effort, Funk added.
For more information about the enrollment policy, visit dublinusd.org.
