North Allegheny lays out multi-year plan to meet Pennsylvania Act 35 financial‑literacy requirement

North Allegheny School District staff on April 9 presented a Business, Computer and Information Technology (BCIT) curriculum review that lays out how the district plans to comply with Pennsylvania’s Act 35 requirement for a mandatory half‑credit personal financial literacy course beginning in the 2026–27 school year.

District presenters said the BCIT department proposes three principal moves: update the department philosophy to emphasize student readiness and real‑world learning; implement the state personal financial literacy course taught by BCIT staff; and audit and streamline existing BCIT elective offerings so the new required course can be added without large staffing increases. The department also proposed renaming and expanding middle‑school keyboarding to “BCIT 6” to introduce digital literacy and basic productivity tools earlier.

Why this matters: Act 35 (2023) requires every student in grades 9–12 to complete a personal financial literacy course (at least 0.5 credit) to meet graduation requirements beginning with locally determined classes; Pennsylvania’s standards cover fundamentals such as income, spending, saving/investing, risk/insurance and credit. District staff told the board that the changes aim to give every student those skills while preserving access to other electives.

BCIT presenters said the district has offered a personal finance elective since a 2016 review and already covers many state standards in that course. Staff emphasized outreach used to shape the proposal: meetings with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, consultation with the district Special Education Department to plan IEP/adaptation options, and a December stakeholder town hall attended by community bankers, university faculty, parents, local businesses, counselors and students.

Key recommendations and timeline

- Update BCIT philosophy and emphasize project‑based, career‑readiness instruction. - Implement the Pennsylvania personal financial literacy course within the BCIT department, with staff proposals to offer the course primarily in 10th and 11th grades. - Streamline existing BCIT electives (examples given: shortening Intro to Business to a semester; combining related NASH classes such as information science, cybersecurity and web design into consolidated offerings) to limit new staffing needs. - Expand middle‑school instruction by renaming keyboarding to BCIT 6 and adding digital literacy, digital citizenship, word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software exposure.

The presenters outlined a phased schedule: continue offering personal finance as an elective in 2025–26; develop a program‑of‑studies plan and pilot sophomore sections in 2026–27; begin filtering certain 10th‑grade students into the course in 2027–28 while consolidating BCIT offerings; bring remaining students into the pathway in 2028–29; and have the graduating class of 2030 be the first cohort required to have completed the course.

Special education and state review

Presenters said Act 35 requires course completion while a student is in grades 9–12 and that students with IEPs must complete the course with appropriate adaptations. They also stated there is no statewide summative assessment tied to Act 35; instead districts are expected to submit a plan to the state by 2026 demonstrating how they will offer the course and meet the standards.

Questions from the board

Board members asked about current enrollment in the elective and schedule impacts. Presenters estimated roughly 120 students (about one‑eighth of a graduating class) currently take the personal finance elective in 11th or 12th grade. Several trustees expressed support for the student‑centered approach and for the long runway the department proposed, and raised scheduling concerns for students who have long afternoon technical programs (Beatty) or full‑year electives; staff said they are discussing options with school counselors and may explore alternatives such as summer offerings or schedule filtering to preserve elective access.

Student and community engagement

Student representatives and board members praised the department’s inclusion of student voice during the curriculum review and noted community businesses have offered classroom partnerships (for example, volunteers to speak about car loans or interest, and marketing help for district hiring needs). Presenters gave concrete examples of project‑based learning, including a recent marketing project with the transportation department in which students developed recruitment materials for bus drivers.

Next steps

Staff said they will draft the program‑of‑studies language for board review, plan the 2026–27 pilot and continue coordination with Special Education and counseling staff to define accommodations and scheduling pathways.

Ending

District staff framed the plan as a phased, student‑focused implementation intended to meet state law while minimizing staffing disruption and preserving elective opportunities.