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Board revisits graduation requirements; staff proposes requiring financial literacy and health course completion
Summary
District staff proposed that the board require successful completion of a personal financial literacy course and the Healthy Choices course for graduation to meet new Colorado statutory standards; the board asked for school-level follow-up before voting.
At the Nov. 5 meeting, district staff asked the board to revise District Policy 6340 to address three statutory changes in Colorado law: a continuing requirement for U.S. and Colorado history/civics instruction, a relatively new mandate to teach Holocaust and genocide standards, and a state requirement to incorporate personal financial literacy standards into a required course for high school graduation.
Staff presented two approaches: Option 1 would require students to successfully complete (pass) a personal financial literacy course and the district's Healthy Choices course as graduation requirements; Option 2 would require only that students be enrolled in those courses without requiring successful completion. The staff presentation noted many peer Colorado districts have already adopted a passing requirement for financial literacy or have embedded the standards in existing social-studies or math courses.
District staff and board members discussed remediation options if students fail the new required courses. Staff said students who fail the personal financial literacy component in 11th grade would remediate during their senior year (through in-person coursework, online Edgenuity offerings, or summer school), but that remediation could displace an elective or CTE opportunity from the student's schedule.
Board members asked staff to follow up with principals at Thornton High School and the Five Star Online Academy because those two schools showed lower pass rates in the available data. The board requested school-level analysis and recommendations on how to prevent failures and how remediation could be offered without unnecessarily reducing access to electives or CTE coursework. Staff indicated the requirement would affect the current freshman class if the board adopts the change, giving some time for preventive work before graduation year.
No final board action on the policy was taken at the Nov. 5 meeting; staff said they will return after gathering school-level information and remediation proposals.
