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Burlington High School previews Program of Studies as district weighs local replacement for MCAS graduation requirement
Summary
Burlington High School Principal Mark Sullivan and Director of Counseling Joe Adebato outlined new course offerings and previewed draft approaches for a locally determined competency determination after the state removed the MCAS diploma requirement.
Burlington High School Principal Mark Sullivan and Director of Counseling Joe Adebato presented the school’s 2025-26 Program of Studies and outlined next steps after the state removed the MCAS requirement for a diploma.
The presentation summarized new and revised course offerings — including AP African American Studies, an AP cybersecurity pilot (potential), art-and-wellness, hip-hop music theory, retail management/project-based learning, gender studies and a newly approved AP computer science course that the College Board has not yet finalized — and changes to dual-enrollment language and course-level descriptors.
Why it matters: the state’s change to the MCAS graduation rule shifts the competency determination (CD) for diplomas to local districts. Joe Adebato and Mark Sullivan told the committee that Burlington must decide how students will demonstrate competency going forward, and that the district intends to keep the MCAS as an option for students to show competency while developing additional local measures.
Sullivan told committee members that the district is proposing two parallel approaches for a CD: 1) allow students to meet competency by achieving a score equivalent to the prior MCAS baseline (269) or 2) meet competency through successful completion of specified high-school coursework aligned to the Massachusetts frameworks (examples cited: passing grades — D or better — in grade 9–10 English and a sequence of math and science courses aligned to state frameworks). Sullivan said the district is consulting with neighboring districts and DESE guidance and will return with draft language for committee consideration.
Committee members asked for details on how transfer students and students who do not pass assessments would be handled. Sullivan said the building leadership would conduct transcript reviews for any student whose record indicates they met graduation-course requirements but lacked an MCAS score and that the district is awaiting further written guidance from the state on retrospective review windows. He also noted an erroneous draft paragraph in the packet that will be removed.
On dual enrollment, the presenters said a typical cost is $126 per college credit and that Middlesex Community College has worked with Burlington to subsidize costs for students with financial need. The district is advocating that the state extend community-college tuition benefits to qualifying high-school students who take dual-enrollment courses.
No vote was taken; Sullivan characterized the Program of Studies presentation as a first reading. The committee asked staff to bring proposed policy language and recommended procedures for a competency determination to a future meeting for review and action.
