With more and more budget cuts being made at Placer High School, some classes are having a hard time staying afloat. If not enough students’ sign up, classes could potentially be dropped. Many AP (Advanced Placement) teachers are finding themselves struggling to keep their student numbers high enough.

A perfect example of this is AP European history. Two years ago this AP class had 22 students; however, last year it dropped to a mere 12. With some class sizes above 30, Placer simply can’t afford to keep a class with that few students. This year the class had to be cut, but the teacher, Duane Long and counselor Steve Prather hope to bring it back in the future.

Long believes that part of the reason that AP Euro had so few students is that they also eliminated the freshmen accelerated English class, which acted as a natural “pipeline” into the AP Euro class. Besides freshman accelerated English and AP Euro being dropped, AP US History found itself in danger as well. Although the class was not dropped completely, they downsized from two classes to one.

“It [AP US History] challenges students to think on a much higher level, have a deeper understanding of American history along with improving writing skills. And it prepares them for college,” said history teacher Greg Robinson.

Teachers believe AP classes are important because they are extremely beneficial to the students who take them. Besides giving them college credits and preparing them for college courses, it challenges them on a different level.

“I don’t want to be in a class with a bunch of obnoxious people,” said AP US history student, Abby Myrick.

Besides the obvious pluses like college credits, AP classes give students like Myrick a chance to progress further than they would in a regular class. Although the AP classes are much more challenging than the regular classes, this eliminates students who don’t really want to learn from being a distraction.

Even though the AP classes are far more difficult, students who take the class and teachers who teach them seem to think it’s worth it.

Student Matt Norcott thought passing the test made it worth it because, although there was too much work in his opinion, it looks good to colleges.

Lara Albrecht, who took AP Euro, last year, would absolutely recommend the class. She thinks it’s sad the class got dropped because it was a great experience; it taught her how to better manage her time, and prepared her for more AP classes to come. Albrecht is glad she took AP Euro because although it was a lot of work it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. Before being in the class she was worried that she would have to give up her out of school activities, but she was able to still do what she wanted without having to give anything up.

In the long run, most students seem to believe that although AP classes can be stressful, you leave the class with a better understanding of the subject and skills that you would not have learned in the regular classes. Due to the schools budget cuts students have to lose AP classes that they feel are beneficial to their education and their future.