Barrington school officials will offer an update on the honors program at Barrington High School during a meeting on Thursday night, May 19.

The meeting will be held at the Barrington Middle School auditorium at 6:30 p.m.

The update follows a series of changes with the honors program at Barrington High School. More than a year ago, school officials decided to eliminate some honors courses and instead offer an honors designation option. Officials said it was a necessary change, as it created more heterogenous classroom groupings and broke down barriers for some students. Many parents opposed the change, stating that students at BHS did not face barriers when enrolling in classes. They also cited other problems with the elimination of the honors classes and the implementation of the honors designation program. 

Earlier this year the district announced it was eliminating the honors designation option altogether, essentially removing any chance for honors in certain classes. 

That move was met with more criticism from parents, and in late March, Barrington High School Principal Joe Hurley announced the return of an honors distinction program, but re-worked from the prior offering. 

Hurley said school officials had discovered that the elimination of honors courses and honors distinction at Barrington High School would negatively impact students when they applied for merit scholarships.

“That was a game-changer,” he said.

School committee members ordered Hurley to return in May with his plan, clearly outlining how the re-worked honors program would function. 

The information is expected to discussed at tonight’s school committee meeting.