District presenters outline proposed high school curriculum changes; board member moves to advance to full board

Linda (school staff member) presented a set of proposed changes to the high school diploma requirements and course catalog, and a board member moved to advance the proposals to the full board for consideration.

Linda said the district had reduced graduation requirements years earlier to 22 credits and described problems that created for scheduling and student time in school. "22 credits was concerning me because the law says that students require 4 years of a high school resolution," she said, explaining that some seniors were finishing early and missing scheduled school days. Linda said the district added two elective credits last spring so students could satisfy the requirement without being limited to specific required courses and that staff had been working to add electives students want to take.

The proposal described several course-level changes: combining government and economics into a yearlong social-studies sequence so the same students remain together for both semesters; removing macroeconomics because the school could not reliably enroll enough students for a dedicated class; expanding microeconomics into a full-year course; adding an Advanced Placement government offering; creating an AP Capstone sequence (AP Seminar and AP Research) to begin this year with the second course to follow next year; removing College Composition I and II from a Thomas College dual-enrollment arrangement after…