Board to add capstone/declaration requirement to graduation policy; staff to return policy language

The Seymour Board of Education discussed making a capstone or declaration a formal graduation requirement and directed staff to draft policy language to insert that requirement into the graduation policy.

Administrators described the proposed requirement as a declaration/guided capstone component that students must fulfill prior to the end of the first semester; board members asked what would happen if a student did not meet the requirement and requested a finalized proposal because a graduation requirement must be part of board policy. The administration said it would prepare language to add into the existing graduation policy and return a wrapped proposal in July so the board could consider adopting it in time for handbook updates.

Board members noted this would be an update to policy rather than merely the student handbook and pressed for a clear, formal policy amendment. One board member asked another (identified in discussion as Mr. Luch) to work with the superintendent on the graduation requirements and for the administration to circulate language to board members for review. The superintendent said the paperwork is the remaining step and that adding the requirement would be a revision of the current graduation policy.

No vote was recorded on adopting the requirement during the meeting; the board set a path to return the drafted policy language in July for review with the possibility of incorporation into the board policy before the next school year.