Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Career Pathways topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mustang schools outline career-pathway plan after state moves toward a single diploma
Summary
Mustang leaders told the board they will implement state-driven changes that shift Oklahoma to a single high-school diploma and require four years of math, and they laid out steps to align Mustang High School courses and counseling to new career pathways.
Ryan McKinney, a district presenter, told the board the state has passed laws that will change high-school graduation requirements and that Mustang is preparing to align course offerings and counseling.
"House Bill 3,278 made some changes that will make high school go to one diploma," McKinney said, adding that the law requires "for every student to have 4 years of math." He told the board those requirements will begin to apply to the class of 2030 and that districts can use Senate Bill 2,672 to phase students between the old and new diploma rules during the transition.
The presentation explained that Mustang will use Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAP), which begin in fifth grade, to guide students into one of eight overarching district pathways and more specific clusters. Caitlin Hensley, assistant principal over college and career programs, described how the state list of clusters includes 16 national clusters and that Oklahoma added an energy cluster; Mustang added a multidisciplinary pathway so students who are undecided have a flexible option.
Hensley said counselors and department heads reviewed every high-school course to map offerings to pathway clusters and produced plan-of-study templates counselors can use during pre-enrollment. McKinney outlined five implementation steps: course evaluation, course-guide updates, staff training (notably for counselors), a February 6 pre-enrollment launch, and analysis of the last five years of enrollment data to finalize course offerings for 2026–27.
Dr. Knowles, head principal at Mustang High School, said the changes are intended to motivate students by connecting coursework to postsecondary choices. "I am really, really excited about the opportunities that this is going to afford our students," Dr. Knowles said.
The board did not take a policy vote on the presentation; McKinney said the district will return with an update in February that will include recommended new courses and enrollment projections.
