National law prevents discrimination in school through Title VI stating, “Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in the programs or activities of all recipients of Federal financial assistance.”

Oxford High School is bound by the law to give equal opportunity to all students. In OHS the administration has taken steps to ensure that this is carried out. One of these steps taken is the organization of the Equity Task Force.

“The OSD Equity Task Force (ETF) is a diverse group of dedicated educators and parents committed to ensuring that every child in our district has the opportunity to excel and thrive,” The Oxford School District website states. “This outcome is made real through equity. Equity is achieved when group identity no longer predicts the course of a person’s life and every child has what they need to succeed.”

Along with the ETF, the Oxford School District has a strict policy on non-discrimination.

“The Oxford School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or disability in the provision of educational programs and services or employment opportunities and benefits.”

Even with the many things ensuring that the Oxford School District is discrimination free and diverse, some teachers feel that there is still a lack of diversity in advanced placement classes. 

“I have taught two different AP classes over the years at OHS and both were very homogenous,” AP Human Geography teacher John Mistilis said. “We have little to no diversity in the AP classroom world.”

The diversity in AP classes can vary from subject to subject as well. Certain classes tend to have a mix of students unlike each other in many ways.

“In the years since my wife started in the French department and then more recently when I joined, the upper level French classes have become much more diverse in both race and gender,” AP French teacher, Charlie Winnick, said. “We have only offered AP French for two years and this is my first year with the class, but it is a very diverse class and I believe that is important for a class which needs to look at a more global perspective, to have a wide range of world views in one room is an asset.”

Diversity in AP classes has been affected in many ways through the years. With the variety of AP courses, schedule changes, and other changes in the district, there are many reasons for a lack of the range of different students that take AP classes.

“Especially looking as an elective class, with bell schedule changes it varies what/how many credits you can have so elective classes would always be the ones that are fit in around the core classes (when possible),” Winnick said. “I don’t think the schedule changes would have affected core class AP enrollment, but possibly more so the electives, especially for students in athletics or extra-curricular activities or CTE classes, that would be a lot to juggle with limited space on a schedule.”

Another one of the many policies relating to diversity on the OSD website is the addition of Social Emotional Learning and Equity process. 

“​​At the classroom level, equity means that each student has a caring and competent teacher who attends to their particular talents, interests and unique gifts so that all students have access to opportunities that will prepare them for a productive life beyond their school years,” the OSD website says under the S.E.L. Equity and Responsiveness section, “Furthermore, working towards equity in schools requires that we interrupt inequitable practices, examine biases, and create an inclusive multicultural school environment for ALL adults and children.”

With the lack of diversity in some AP classes differing from it in others, there are many reasons why students wouldn’t take AP classes. Many students are unaware of their own abilities and working on recognizing students that are succeeding in certain subjects could help make a more diverse mix of students in all higher level classes.

“I would say our typical non-AP kids need to know if they are excelling in their classwork, there are AP possibilities available for them.” Mistilis said. “Y’all means all!”