Kennedy High School senior Elias Avalos is a straight-A student. He was on the varsity baseball and soccer teams. He plays the saxophone for the school’s band. He volunteers at his church and has an internship at the RYSE Youth Center. But Avalos feels like he isn’t reaching his full potential because he’s only able to take one advanced placement (AP) class this year.
It’s not his fault. AP Spanish Literature and Culture, AP English Literature and AP Calculus were all cut this school year — much to his surprise and to some of the teachers.
Instead of taking AP Calculus, Avalos is taking another version of algebra 2 (which he also took last year) because there is no higher math class offered. Instead of AP English Literature, he is in a regular English class, and instead of AP Spanish Literature and Culture he isn’t taking Spanish at all because he already completed the highest-level course offered.
“I was stoked (especially for AP Spanish Literature) because I’m passionate. I want to continue learning about Spanish. I want to get into the literature and that opportunity just got totally blown away,” Avalos told Richmondside. “It’s not just about me. It’s also affecting the learning environment around us.”
He said several of his classmates had signed up for the same AP classes he did and were also disappointed.
“That’s like a common thing at Kennedy, a lot of the classes (are) going to get cut,” Avalos said. “It’s sad because there are a lot of people who want to push themselves more through education and take the next level but they can’t do that.”
The cuts put the Richmond school at the bottom of the list of WCCUSD schools offering APs and honors classes. Kennedy offers five AP classes now, compared to El Cerrito, just a few miles south, with 17 AP classes, Richmond High with seven, De Anza High School with nine and Hercules High School with 13.
Petition to save AP Spanish Literature and Culture class
The cut felt deepest by the Kennedy community is AP Spanish Literature and Culture. Students enrolled in the college-level class read and analyze historical and modern Spanish-language texts such as poetry, essays and dramas from Spain, Latin America and the United States. At the end of the year, students can earn college credit by taking an exam, depending on their score.
More than 150 students, teachers and alumni signed a petition during the second week of school to persuade Kennedy’s administration to keep the class. When nothing seemed to sway the school’s principal and vice principal, several of those signees attended the West Contra Costa Unified School district school board meeting earlier this month to ask the board for help.
School administrators did not respond to Richmondside’s requests for comment, but several Kennedy teachers said the administration cut AP Spanish Literature and AP English Literature because there weren’t enough students enrolled. The AP Calculus class no longer has a teacher.
Patricia Blanco, who has taught AP Spanish Literature for the past six years at Kennedy, found out that the class, which had 13 students enrolled, was cut just two weeks before school started. WCCUSD usually requires 25 students per class, but for accelerated courses the threshold is usually 15 students.
Blanco said the administration knew that enrollment was a little low but didn’t indicate it would be a problem before the summer break.
By the start of the school year, several students emailed her to ask why the class was no longer being offered. Of the 13 students interested, 12 told Blanco they still wanted to take the class even if it meant changing their schedule a month into the school year.
“I need your support to make this class part of the Kennedy master schedule,” Blanco told the school board. “We don’t want AP Spanish literature and culture to disappear when it has been so successful. It’s imperative that this course and all the opportunities carried within, not be taken away from our students.”
Blanco said the class not only prepares students for college, but “preserves their cultural and linguistic heritage.” Over the last four years, Kennedy High students did better on the AP exam than the state average.
In 2022, 85% of students passed the exam. The following year it was 75%. In 2024, 94% of students passed; in 2025 it fell to 70% of students passing. The state passing average for the AP Spanish Literature exam in 2022 was 64% and in 2025 it went up to 70%.
Preserving Kennedy’s Spanish program
Blanco noted that when she started working at Kennedy nine years ago, there were four language teachers: Three who taught Spanish and one who taught French.
Since COVID, there have only been two Spanish teachers: Blanco and her colleague, Cristina Huerta. There was an opening for a third Spanish teacher, but the district decided to cut the position after a year of trying to find someone to fill it.
“That’s why we’re fighting so hard,” Huerta told Richmondside. “Because we know once things disappear, it’s going to be really hard to ask them to bring it back.”
Huerta, a 13-year veteran at Kennedy High School, developed a Spanish language program tailored specifically for native Spanish speakers. She noticed that many newcomer students — recent immigrants with limited English proficiency — were being taught Spanish using English-language textbooks, which she found ineffective. In response, she designed courses that better meet their needs. Today, Kennedy offers several Spanish classes: standard courses for English-speaking students, two specialized classes for native Spanish speakers, and AP Spanish Language.
About 75% of Kennedy’s student population is Hispanic and 46% are English language learners, according to state data.
“It is unfortunate that, because we are a small school, we don’t have the capacity to offer a second language, but I do like to explain to our students that we are actually offering two different pathways when it comes to Spanish,” Huerta told Richmondside. “And ever since we solidified this program, we have had great success with it.”
Huerta, who teaches AP Spanish Language (which is still offered), also used to teach AP Spanish Literature before Blanco took it on. While the AP Language course focuses on fluency in speaking, the Literature course emphasizes advanced writing skills and literary analysis.
“AP Spanish literature is the most advanced Spanish course that we offer in the district,” Huerta said. “The students have to read over 30 texts in Spanish, some of them from the 1400s so it can be a struggle.”
Given the difficulty of the course, Huerta said it’s understandable that enrollment isn’t high. Still, she emphasized that students are challenging themselves and passing.
Huerta also noted that her Spanish for Spanish Speakers 1 class had 14 students enrolled in the beginning of the year and is not at risk of being cut, which points to inconsistent decisions regarding which sections are preserved. One of Blanco’s Spanish for Spanish Speakers 2 classes has nine students currently enrolled.
“Why is it that some of the classes are being allowed to continue, and some sections are being sacrificed without checking in with the teachers, without coming up with a plan for the students who were going to be affected?,” Huerta said. “Not only this year, but in the future, if we’re unable to reopen the class.”
AP English Literature also on the chopping block
Myriam Godfrey, an English teacher at Kennedy for 12 years, said she understands cutting classes due to low enrollment but said the rule isn’t applied consistently. Two of her senior English classes have 35 students (and not enough seats), while one has just seven.
She said while she is sad to not teach AP English Literature this year, her heart breaks for the students currently in her class that can and want to be challenged at a higher level.
“AP classes offer a safe haven for being an intellectual in a school where that’s not the emphasis,” Godfrey told Richmondside. “AP Lit, what it does is it takes kids who are doing well and gives them a class where everybody else is doing well and is engaged in the topic.”
She believes the class was cut for financial reasons. The district has reduced teaching positions and tapped reserve funds to balance its budget. Still, she argues that smaller AP classes are worth preserving.
“AP Lit is not this big and it won’t ever be that big because, well, there aren’t enough kids who have the skill set to do it,” Godfrey told Richmondside, noting it’s not for a lack of intellect.
Godfrey said that many Kennedy students are multilingual and strong in Spanish, but English instruction suffers from chronic staffing issues.
“They laid off an English teacher last year, and we had an opening last year for English, and they have an opening now for ninth grade English, which is the worst possible year,” Godfrey said, because that first year helps set the foundation for high school English.
Staffing instability has affected student performance. In 2024, only 15% of Kennedy students met or exceeded the state standard for English language arts, and just 5% for math — far below the state averages of 47% and 35%.
“There is some great teaching going on here but these cuts make Kennedy look like a joke,” Godfrey said. “We do this all the time. We tell them we will do something and then we don’t do it because we don’t have the resources or the money or whatever. But I think it’s the will more than anything.”
Students at the frontline of class cuts
Kennedy High School also lost its popular silk screening class, where students created thousands of T-shirts for the district. Last year, students protested when career pathway programs were at risk. Kennedy currently offers pathways in healthcare, welding, construction, and technology, while other schools, such as De Anza High, offer additional options such as law.
Senior Anahi Ruiz Moncada criticized the administration’s decision to cut AP Spanish, saying students should be encouraged to challenge themselves.
“Especially now in this political climate, Latinx people are being suppressed by (federal) policies,” said Moncada, who hopes to study environmental law at UC Davis. “And I view language as something that we use to fight against that.”
She added that cutting Spanish classes while ICE raids are on the rise sends the wrong message to the community. Moncada also pointed to broader disparities between schools, noting that high schools in El Cerrito and Pinole receive more resources and have better facilities.
“We deserve the same opportunities as everyone else,” Moncada said. “Cutting resources to underprivileged communities means we’re just perpetuating the cycle of more people being impoverished.”
Senior Amy Condor said she was lucky enough to take AP Spanish Literature her junior year but would have taken others this year if she could have. She said the class prepared her for college and expanded her Spanish vocabulary.
Condor, who hopes to study nursing at UC Berkeley, said she fears for Kennedy’s future.
“If the administration keeps cutting this year, who knows how many more APs they’re gonna get rid of next year,” Condor said. “It’s just unfair to the next group of students.”
Great article, thanks for the thorough reporting and the useful snapshot of what’s been happening this year at Kennedy High School. I know it’s ongoing, and having this steady reporting is really helpful!