Saint Croix board approves change to personal finance requirement, adopts career-readiness credit

The Saint Croix School District Board of Education voted July 23 to revise its graduation requirements by removing career-readiness components from the half-credit personal finance course and establishing a new career-readiness requirement delivered through weekly advisory/ACP sessions.

Board members approved a motion to delete the “/careers” designation from the district’s personal finance graduation requirement and to require students to earn 0.25 credits per year they attend Saint Croix Central (SCC) in career readiness and social-emotional-learning (SEL) competencies. The board also approved creation of a new pass/fail career-readiness class tied to those credits.

District staff told the board the change responds to Wisconsin Act 60, which requires a standalone personal financial literacy credit for graduates beginning with the class of 2028. Presenters said the district’s current personal finance course covers five of six state-required finance strands and that shifting careers out of the course would allow the class to meet all required finance standards.

Tracy Crowley, one of the presenters, said the district plans to use the school’s existing late-start Wednesday schedule to deliver the academic and career planning (ACP) curriculum without adding days to the school year. Under the proposal, students would begin Wednesday at 8:10 a.m. (instead of 8:45) and attend a 30-minute ACP block three Wednesdays per month led by counselors and ACP staff; one Wednesday would be an advisory period with classroom teachers. District staff said the schedule change preserves teacher professional learning community (PLC) time and adds the equivalent of about two instructional days for high school ACP content.

Presenters described the ACP curriculum as grade-specific and mapped to Wisconsin career-readiness standards and SEL competencies. Activities listed include guest speakers (military, apprenticeships, entrepreneurs), score-review and goal-setting tied to college/career tests, depression screening and student climate surveys, community-service projects, and a senior-year portfolio/capstone presentation. Seniors were described as meeting in-person only the first month and then completing much of their ACP work remotely via Google Classroom with scheduled advisory check-ins.

The board’s motion set the career-readiness credit as 0.25 per year students are enrolled at SCC so that students who transfer in late will not be penalized with large credit makeups. The proposed career-readiness credit will be recorded on transcripts as pass/fail; presenters said a 60% completion threshold will be required to earn a passing mark.

Board members clarified that the motion approved deletion of the careers component from the personal finance course and established the credit requirement and new class. They said schedule changes and detailed course design will be handled administratively and do not automatically change teachers’ assignments. The board’s vote to approve the deletion and the new career-readiness requirement carried.

District staff cautioned that the change does not alter state licensure requirements for teachers, saying ACP and career planning fall within school counseling duties and the district plans to use counselors alongside classroom teachers to deliver ACP content. Staff also emphasized that some ACP assignments will require student work outside the 30-minute Wednesday block and that the program includes built-in workdays for assignment completion.

What the board approved was limited to the course labeling and the career-readiness credit; the district indicated further board action may be needed to finalize the new class catalog entry and any schedule adjustments.

Votes at a glance - Motion to delete “/careers” from the personal finance graduation requirement and to require 0.25 career-readiness credits per year at SCC, and to create a new pass/fail career-readiness class: Motion approved (mover not specified; second by Brad). All in favor.

Context The proposal was presented as a response to Wisconsin Act 60 and recent state career-readiness standards. Presenters said aligning ACP across grades 9–12 and using late-start Wednesdays will ensure all students receive required career-readiness instruction while allowing the personal finance course to meet all six state finance strands.