East Penn proposes half-credit personal finance requirement, new AP business course and several dual-credit additions

The East Penn School District presented proposed changes to the Emmaus High School program of studies Monday, including a new half-credit personal finance graduation requirement for students starting with the Class of 2030 and multiple new or revised courses that administrators said would expand dual-credit and career-ready options.

"Next year we are required to offer courses in financial management, personal financial requirement," said Principal Gina Gariello, summarizing state Act 35 requirements. To comply, the district plans to add a 0.5-credit personal finance requirement; students could satisfy it by taking the existing half-credit PFM course (dual-credit through LCCC) or a proposed AP Business with Personal Finance full-year course.

What administrators told the board: AP Business with Personal Finance is a one-credit, project-based course aligned to College Board materials and structured around entrepreneurship, marketing and personal finance units. "This course is more of a project based course for, for AP," said a presenter. The district said College Board provides case-study materials and that College Board training grants are available. Administrators estimated about 51% of the current senior class have completed or are scheduled to complete PFM and that about 300 students will ultimately need to meet the new requirement. They recommended hiring one additional teacher to cover the extra sections and said the course launch has no other significant budgetary constraints.

Other proposed curriculum changes include: - Skills for Independence (FCS): a new half-credit course for freshmen and underclassmen focused on daily-living, employability and basic nutrition; it replaces the older Independent Living course for upperclassmen. - Food Fundamentals (FCS): updates to make the foods course less baking-focused and more broadly applicable. - Tech-ed consolidations and additions: Graphic Design condensed to 0.5 credit; Photography II proposed for advanced students; Drafting & Design condensed to emphasize AutoCAD and 3-D modeling. - Dual-credit expansions (LCCC): Environmental Science, Business Retail Management/Marketing II, Business Law and others; teachers reviewed LCCC curricula and said they align with current classroom work. - Modern Music Making (half credit): a new ensemble-and-production course emphasizing contemporary popular music, production and industry basics; administrators said no additional equipment cost is required and that enrolled students would not need to own instruments.

Administrators emphasized accessibility: equipment-dependent courses would provide school-owned tools so students without personal devices or instruments could participate. Board members asked about scheduling, transferability of dual-credit and AP college-acceptance; staff said AP credit transferability is handled through College Board and that partner lists for AP-to-college credit are evolving.

Timing and next steps: the program-of-studies revisions were presented as informational; the board was told it may act on the recommendations at the November meeting. Administrators said the district will post updated materials and work on scheduling and staffing to accommodate the new requirement and newly proposed sections.

Provenance: presentations on Act 35 personal finance requirements, the AP Business with Personal Finance course, and the program-of-studies revisions were given during the curriculum section of the Oct. 27 meeting. Board discussion covered staffing, scheduling, credit transfer and access.