Parents, educators urge APS to reverse decision moving health education graduation requirement to eighth grade
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Summary
Multiple public speakers at the Feb. 5 Albuquerque Public Schools board meeting urged trustees to reconsider a Jan. 15 decision to make the health-education graduation requirement an eighth-grade course rather than ninth grade, citing developmental differences and curriculum scope.
Several speakers at the Albuquerque Public Schools board public forum on Feb. 5 urged trustees to reverse a Jan. 15 decision to move the district's health-education graduation requirement from ninth to eighth grade, arguing that the high-school curriculum covers content not appropriate for younger students.
Dr. Christine Muir, who recently retired as APS executive director for student, family and community supports and previously developed health education standards for the state, told the board that middle- and high-school health standards differ in subject matter and developmental expectations. "There are major differences in the health education standards and benchmarks, for example inappropriate touch in middle school versus dating in high school," Dr. Muir said, and she asked the board to "please reconsider" moving the graduation requirement to eighth grade.
Multiple speakers echoed those concerns. Ron Mayer, a 34-year veteran ninth-grade health teacher, told trustees eighth graders lacked maturity for some ninth-grade topics, naming suicide prevention and eating-disorder material as examples. Former school-nurse and public-health practitioner Patsy Nelson and Nancy Rodriguez, executive director of the New Mexico Alliance for School-Based Health Care, also asked the board to reconsider and offered to provide data and expertise. "We strongly believe that health education is a critical part of the high school education," Rodriguez told the board, and her organization sent a letter urging reconsideration.
Speakers framed their request as a matter of pedagogy and safety rather than politics, citing developmental differences between early adolescents and older teens and arguing that high school courses provide health literacy relevant to career exploration and wraparound services. Several asked the board to consult health-education professionals and the district's School Health Advisory Committee before confirming the change.
No board vote was taken Feb. 5 on the health-education graduation requirement; speakers asked the trustees to reopen the matter for further review. Board members thanked public commenters and acknowledged the request for additional input; the board did not commit to a specific vote date in the meeting record.
Speakers and advocacy groups requested that the board undertake further consultation with health educators and school health professionals before finalizing the grade-level placement of the graduation requirement.
