Tuscaloosa City Schools board reviews CCRI rollout, dual-enrollment growth and new state pathways

Superintendent Dr. Daria and district staff briefed the Tuscaloosa City Schools Board of Education on June 3 about the state-mandated college- and career-readiness indicator (CCRI) for the cohort entering their senior year in 2026 and related changes to dual enrollment and diploma pathways.

The update explained why the CCRI matters and how the district is responding. Miss Nordstrom, presenting CCRI data, said the CCRI requirement is coming from the state: "That is coming from the state. That is not a Tuscaloosa City Schools thing." She reported district performance metrics for the Class of 2025 and juniors: confirmed postsecondary plans stood at 97.4 percent for the Class of 2025, and the board was told that nearly 41 percent of 2025 graduates left Tuscaloosa City Schools with college credit earned through dual-enrollment programs.

District staff framed the changes as a continuation of local work. Miss Nordstrom said the district already tracks confirmed postsecondary plans and uses partners and systems to verify students’ plans after graduation. The briefing said dual-enrollment participation is rising year over year, with roughly 50 more students participating than the prior school year and additional course enrollments and college credits earned.

The board heard details about State Bill 253 (described to the board as the Option B workforce diploma). Under that pathway, students may earn an Alabama high school diploma with reduced academic credit requirements: two math credits (geometry and algebra I or a second appropriate math), two science credits (biological and a physical science) and a requirement that the student achieve CTE "completer" status by earning a grade of 70 or better in three sequenced CTE courses in a declared program. The district noted Option B is intended for students pursuing workforce pathways and is not appropriate for students who plan to attend a four-year college immediately after graduation or for student-athletes seeking NCAA eligibility.

Staff described local procedures for Option B: students in the general education pathway default to Option A and must opt in to Option B no earlier than the spring semester of 10th grade. Presenters said the opt-in requires signatures from the student, the family, the school counselor and the school principal to document understanding of the pathway and its limits.

Board members asked how the district communicates Option B and CCRI details to principals, counselors and families; presenters said the district will run an "intense communication campaign" beginning immediately and will work through counselors and principals to ensure a counseling and scheduling pathway that preserves a student’s ability to achieve CTE completer status.

Staff also discussed House Bill 102, which the board was told expands dual-enrollment availability statewide and instructs local systems to place dual-enrollment coursework on students’ high school transcripts. Under the change, the district’s dual-credit crosswalk will no longer limit which dual-enrollment courses appear on transcripts; instead the crosswalk will identify which courses qualify for additional quality-point (weighted) consideration. Presenters said the change could affect GPA calculations because dual-enrollment courses completed successfully will appear on a student’s high school transcript.

The presentation closed with staff noting the district’s work to quantify extracurricular participation, partnerships with Xello for career-readiness verification, and continued monitoring while state data are certified. Board members were invited to request follow-up briefings or detailed walkthroughs of the data.