State education department outlines proposed changes to high school graduation requirements

Greg Wilson, chief of staff at the State Department of Education, told the House Education Committee that the department is proposing updates to Idaho’s statewide high school graduation requirements intended to reflect current workforce needs and varied student pathways.

The department said the state minimum would remain 46 credits (29 core, 17 elective) but would shift how some core credits are defined: the standalone 1-credit communications requirement would be removed from the core and replaced by a required 1-credit digital literacy course; the department would support districts in awarding credit for mastery or for work-based/CTE/apprenticeship experiences; schools would be required to develop and post at least two localized pathways; and the existing senior project would be updated and rebranded as a future readiness project beginning with the class of 2028.

Wilson said, “the state requires an overall 46 credits. That's the state minimum requirement, and that's 29 core academic requirements and 17 elective requirements,” and emphasized that many local districts already exceed that minimum. He framed the package around four priorities: more flexibility for meeting core academic requirements, adding digital literacy as a core requirement, creating localized pathways, and replacing the senior project with a ‘‘future readiness’’…