Running Start students will be unable to take as many courses as previous years after the state legislature cut the program in March.

Running Start allows high schoolers to dual enroll in college courses, earning both types of credit at the same time and giving students a head start for college. If students plan their courses right, they can even earn an associates degree (AA) by the time they graduate high school.

The cuts reduce total Full-Time Equivalent (FTE), a measure of total instructional time, from 1.4 to 1.3. The cuts lower the total amount of Running Start and high school courses students can take each year.

While some students may be concerned that the cuts will impede their ability to take as many classes as they like, Garfield counselors such as Kenneth Courtney aren’t worried. Courtney explained that “it really doesn’t matter to a student if they are trying to get an AA.”

The cuts won’t deny students the ability to seek an early associates degree, but they will “just have to be more thoughtful” about the classes they select, Courtney said. “There’s less margin for error. It’s not as easy.”

This change won’t affect many Garfield students. Only 18.5% of Garfield upperclassmen are enrolled in Running Start courses, and according to Courtney, only a small number of those currently have a schedule that would require change to comply with the cuts.