The Los Gatos‑Saratoga board voted 5‑0 to extend a waiver allowing Saratoga High School students who completed a one‑semester ethnic studies course to count that course toward the district’s world geography graduation requirement for the current school year. Deepa, a district administrator, briefed trustees on the request and explained the state‑level context.

Why it matters: Assembly Bill 101 (ethnic studies) requires a one‑semester ethnic studies course as a California high school graduation requirement for the class of 2030; district staff said funding and final state guidance remain unclear. In the interim, Saratoga’s earlier pilot — which had allowed ethnic studies to substitute for a world geography semester during a pilot period — necessitated a temporary waiver to avoid disrupting students who already completed ethnic studies as freshmen.

Deepa told the board that the original Saratoga waiver was intended only for the pilot period and that the district now asks to extend it for the current school year so students who previously took ethnic studies will meet graduation requirements. She said, if the state implements the AB 101 requirement as written, the district would need a broader plan because it would be required to have ethnic studies in the students’ schedule rather than rely on annual waivers.

Trustees raised concern about parity between the two high schools and the fairness of different graduation requirement rules inside the same district. One trustee said the district should not repeatedly use year‑to‑year waivers and urged staff to bring a permanent alignment plan so both schools share the same graduation structure. Deepa and other staff noted that another new statewide graduation requirement (personal finance) also requires planning and that the district will need to balance multiple requirements if AB 101 remains in force.

Action: A motion to approve the one‑semester waiver for the current year passed 5‑0. Trustees asked staff to return with a permanent proposal to align graduation requirements across both high schools and to address scheduling and course‑count impacts if AB 101 takes effect as currently written.

Ending: Staff said they will monitor state guidance and funding and bring a recommended long‑term solution that addresses parity and scheduling by the time the district must implement state graduation changes.