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Salt Lake City School District previews possible honors diploma, asks board for July follow-up
Summary
Superintendent’s team introduced an honors/advanced-diploma concept and options to raise graduation credit requirements, asked the board to gather feedback and return with a fuller proposal in July.
The Salt Lake City School District presented a first look Tuesday night at an honors or advanced-diploma option that would sit above Utah’s 24-credit state minimum and could be used to encourage fuller senior schedules and additional coursework.
Dr. Tiffany Hall, staff member, told the board the presentation was intended as an initial discussion and that staff would return in July with more detailed options and outreach results. “We are looking carefully at graduation requirements across the district, what it’s we’re expecting of our students and maybe what we ought to expect of our students,” Hall said.
The idea grew from district goals to boost attendance and college-and-career readiness. Hall noted data showing that during 2024–25 only about 25–30% of seniors attended full time; she said 70–75% of seniors had “incomplete schedules” and therefore had unused capacity during the school day. The honors option would be voluntary and could be designed several ways: an “advanced” diploma set at 27–32 credits, a school-specific diploma (e.g., Highland diploma) at an intermediate level, or a district honors diploma tied to additional credits in math, science or career and technical education (CTE).
Board members flagged scheduling, program conflicts and sequencing as follow-up items. Board member Ashley Anderson asked how a new honors diploma would interact with existing specialty programs such as International Baccalaureate (IB) at West High, noting that IB students and families have reported scheduling conflicts when additional district mandates are layered onto program requirements. “I would be really cautious about how the board approaches … designat[ing] where those credits have to be and get information from you about how such a designation would impact the specialty academic programs that we already offer,” Anderson said.
Superintendent Dr. Grant and Hall said staffing is not expected to require major new hires because schools are staffed on the assumption of full student schedules; increasing required credits would mostly change where existing teacher time is allocated. Hall also offered timing options — immediate, phased in over two or three years, or deferred — and asked board members to solicit constituent feedback before the July follow-up.
The board did not take action on the honors-diploma idea; members instead asked staff to return with implementation scenarios, scheduling implications for specialty programs and an analysis of baseline data that would allow comparison to peer districts. Hall said she would include the requested details in the July presentation.
