Don’t let LaG lag

Of the three dozen or so Advanced Placement, college-level courses that high schoolers across America can take, BC Calculus is among the toughest, enrolling only those seniors who are really into math. So it’s pretty lousy that the BC Calc kids at LaGuardia High School, the public performing arts academy across the street from Lincoln Center, have been told that the class they’ve been taking since September is being downgraded and losing its AP status — and that colleges will be notified of the same. The College Board, which certifies AP classes, says the adults who run the school have many easy options to right the ship and restore that status. What’s stopping them?

The other 22 AP offerings at LaGuardia retain their standing. That’s despite the fact that last year, Principal Yeou-Jey Vasconcelos tried to radically reduce AP availability until a parent uproar and exposure in this newspaper made her retreat. But there’s still a problem with BC Calc, which covers all the same topics as AB Calc but also adds units on parametric equations, polar coordinates and vector-valued functions and another one on infinite sequences and series. Ah, the things we’ve forgotten since high school.

The BC kids are plowing ahead in preparing for the May 9 AP test, which can grant them college placement or credits. The College Board says LaGuardia can take several simple ministerial steps to get back in its good graces. Parents have heard the same thing. The school hasn’t bothered. To borrow from the school’s namesake, when they make a mistake, it’s a beaut.

The new schools chancellor, David Banks — who, like Mayor Adams, supports rigor and AP classes — has requested resignation letters from every superintendent, which includes Vivian Orlen, who oversees LaGuardia. With Orlen’s resignation letter in hand, Banks should insist that she and Vasconcelos do what it takes to immediately get back the AP stamp of approval for the kids in BC Calc. And purge forever any hint of anti-AP bias from every high school in the city.