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Suffield board tables plan to use Agriscience experience to meet personal finance requirement
Summary
The Board tabled a proposal to allow Agriscience students to satisfy the state personal finance graduation requirement through supervised agricultural experiences, the AET and supplemental EVERFI coursework after members raised equity and policy concerns; no vote was taken.
Assistant Superintendent Laura Norbut presented a proposal to allow students enrolled in the Suffield Regional Agriscience Program to meet the state-mandated personal finance graduation requirement through the program’s Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET) and supplemental EVERFI financial-literacy modules, reflecting a recommendation from the state’s Agricultural Science and Technology Education (ASTE) review.
Board members expressed several concerns during deliberation. Debra Dudack asked for a review of the ASTE report cited during the presentation and raised questions about possible conflicts with existing board policies on online learning and graduation requirements. Members also discussed equity implications for students not enrolled in Agriscience and whether EVERFI was a required component of the ASTE recommendation; Superintendent Matt Dunbar clarified that EVERFI was added by the district as a supplemental resource and was not required by ASTE to meet the state mandate.
After discussion the Board tabled the item to allow time for a thorough policy review and to gather additional information; no motion was made and no formal action was taken at the Jan. 5 meeting. Board members asked staff to provide the referenced ASTE report and additional policy analysis when the item returns to a future agenda.
