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Board hears plan to raise graduation credits to 28, expand electives and restore AP weighting
Summary
Administrators told the Feb. 3 board the Program of Studies will increase graduation requirements to 28 credits phased to the class of 2030, add new electives (including engineering and career-focused Spanish), move some HPE content to ninth grade and restore AP GPA weighting for any AP course with a C or better beginning with the class of 2028.
Amanda Blanton opened the Lower Moreland Township School District board meeting on Feb. 3, and administrators presented recommended updates to the high-school Program of Studies.
Dr. Henrich, a district administrator, and Mr. Thomas, a high-school administrator, said the most significant change is raising total required credits for graduation to 28, phased in so the class of 2030 will meet the new requirement. “Our total credits has increased to 28 total credits,” Mr. Thomas said.
Administrators said the change is possible because the new AB block bell schedule will allow ninth–tenth graders to take eight credits per year and will enable students to accumulate up to 32 credits by graduation. The presentation explained year-by-year minima (ninth/tenth combined 16; eleventh and twelfth minimums 7 and 6 respectively) and described a plan to incrementally increase health and physical education credit by 0.25 per year until alignment is reached.
The package would move some twelfth-grade health material into a newly structured ninth-grade health course to free space for a twelfth‑grade HPE elective. New recommended courses include a consolidated Fitness & Conditioning elective (merging current fitness and strength offerings), Health and Wellness 12, Project Lead the Way: Introduction to Engineering & Design, a Spanish semester elective geared to workplace vocabulary, and an ECAT Construction Careers & Management program (to replace a carpentry program). Administrators also proposed removing Educational Field Experience and the Spanish/French 6 courses because they are outdated or duplicate AP-level content.
Administrators said the district will partner with Montgomery County Community College for dual-credit opportunities going forward. They also proposed restoring AP add-on weight for every AP course in which a student earns a C or better beginning with the class of 2028; presenters and other board members discussed counseling supports and college acceptance variability during Q&A. “If you earn an A in an AP course, which is a college level course, you should earn the weight in your weighted GPA,” Dr. Henrich said.
Key near-term dates: a master-schedule information night for parents on Feb. 25, student course-selection meetings on Feb. 26, and a teacher-recommendation and elective-selection window March 2–6. Administrators said the Program of Studies changes will be returned to the board for formal approval before students begin final course selections.
No formal vote or final action on the Program of Studies was recorded at the Feb. 3 meeting.
