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District plans two‑stage rollout of mandated personal‑finance requirement; SmartFutures platform questioned
Summary
The committee reviewed a two‑stage plan to require Personal Finance I for ninth graders and Personal Finance II for juniors, discussed course level (CP/honors) and the district's use of SmartFutures as an artifacts warehouse. The committee tentatively agreed to offer College Prep and Honors tracks and evaluate after one year.
East Stroudsburg Area School District staff presented a two‑stage plan to comply with Pennsylvania personal‑finance requirements by adding Personal Finance I for ninth graders and Personal Finance II for juniors.
The district's written plan makes Personal Finance I a freshman course that introduces basic age‑appropriate finance topics and career education/work standards; Personal Finance II would follow in eleventh grade with deeper topics such as credit, loans, investments, budgets, mortgages and college financing. Staff said the freshman course can be implemented next year with no additional staffing and no extra cost if the district reallocates some existing credits; the second course would be phased in the following year to allow principals and the new superintendent time to evaluate staffing needs.
Teachers and department chairs asked whether the courses should be offered on applied/CP/honors tracks. After discussion the committee indicated support for offering the College Prep (CP) and Honors levels initially and reassessing after one year; staff described a plan to differentiate assignments and assessments to meet diverse student needs while maintaining common learning objectives.
Committee members also pressed staff on SmartFutures, the online platform used to store career and work artifacts and to report to the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS). Presenters said SmartFutures currently houses junior‑ and senior‑year artifacts the district must keep for reporting, but many board members and teachers reported weak student engagement with the platform and high cost. Staff said they would review options—possibly negotiating a lower SmartFutures price if used only as a reporting warehouse or exploring alternative platforms—rather than drop the repository while still required to report to PDE.
Staff described other program adjustments tied to the rollout: reducing the current Everyday Living course from 1.0 to 0.5 credit to avoid duplication of career‑education standards, and considering shifting an existing credit such as computer literacy to accommodate Personal Finance II within graduation credit requirements. The district expects the class of 2029 to be the first cohort able to complete both Personal Finance I and II under the proposed timeline.
Ending: The committee signaled support for CP and Honors tracks for the new courses and asked staff to refine scheduling, staffing and SmartFutures cost options ahead of final Board approval.
