Committee updates graduation credits, FAFSA timing and student-discipline rules after new state acts

Miss LaTorre told the Wallingford School District policy committee that several graduation and discipline policies were revised to reflect recent state law changes and district decisions about course requirements.

Graduation and FAFSA. The district updated the FAFSA completion date in its policy and legal references so that the requirement applies to students graduating in 2027. The graduation-requirements policy removes language specific to the class of 2024, updates charts for classes of 2027 and later, and changes how financial literacy is counted: beginning with the relevant classes financial literacy will be a 0.5-credit requirement that may be applied as a humanities credit, a STEM credit, or a general elective depending on each student’s needs. Miss LaTorre said the change is intended to give counselors flexibility and to ensure financial literacy counts toward a student’s pathway without forcing it solely into the humanities bucket.

Fine arts. For the graduating class of 2029 and later, the committee approved (for formal reading) a requirement that students earn a 0.5 credit in fine arts (one semester) so every graduate will have completed at least one arts or music course. Miss LaTorre said she consulted high-school principals and enumerated course examples that meet the requirement, including theater, chorus, music technology, ceramics and photography.

Physical-education exemption. The graduation policy’s legal references were updated: the district added that a physician assistant (PA), in addition to an APRN or physician, may provide written documentation to exempt a student from a physical-education credit.

Student discipline. Miss LaTorre summarized legislative-driven changes (cited in the meeting as Public Act 24-45 and Public Act 24-93) that adjust disciplinary limits and notification requirements. Key changes discussed: for grades preschool through 2, both in-school and out-of-school suspensions are limited to five consecutive school days and the administration must consider specific interventions and whether a PPT meeting is required on return; for grades 3–12, in-school suspension consecutive days are capped at five (reduced from 10), while out-of-school suspension may remain up to 10 consecutive days if warranted. The changes also extend parental-notification requirements for expulsion hearings to at least five business days before the hearing and introduce notification requirements tied to behavior-intervention meetings. Miss LaTorre emphasized the district’s goal of keeping very young students in school where possible and said administrative staff received legal briefings before school started.

Clarifications and next steps. Committee members raised questions about chart math and where the 0.5-credit financial-literacy entry is shown; Miss LaTorre acknowledged online agenda inconsistencies and said she will correct the charts and add explanatory wording and a pointer to the course catalog to show which courses fall into which credit buckets. She said counselors will track student progress annually to ensure compliance. The revised policies will be included in the November in-person meeting for a formal reading; no votes were taken during this meeting.