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School board approves three half-credit courses proposed by Easley High School
Summary
The Pickens County school board approved three half-credit courses — moving images, film studies and music tech — proposed by Easley High School, citing the district's need to retain 0.5-credit local offerings after state changes; principals must preapprove films and permission forms will be used.
The Pickens County School Board on June 9 approved three half-credit courses submitted by Easley High School, the board heard. Dr. Shannon Sharkey presented the proposals, describing "moving images" and "film studies" as half-credit classes that emphasize media literacy and film history and a "music tech" course that teaches music production and use of industry-standard digital audio workstations.
"This course introduces students to the art, history and technique of filmmaking," Sharkey said of the moving images class, noting the course covers cinematography, editing, sound design and film production. She told the board the courses have been offered previously and the district seeks authorization to continue offering them as 0.5-credit options now that the state department has removed many half-credit offerings.
A board member asked how the district's film-screening policy applies to the movie-focused courses. "With these — the movie images and film studies — our district policy regarding watching films and all, how do those play into this?" the member asked. Sharkey responded that principals must approve films shown in class and permission forms are required to go home, and said the films included in the course packet meet district guidelines.
After discussion the board moved to approve the three courses. The motion received a second and was adopted by voice vote; the transcript does not record a numeric roll-call tally.
The board did not discuss specific syllabi or a timetable for implementation during the public portion of the meeting; Sharkey said the courses would be available to students in grades 9–12 and that the music tech class has been taught successfully by Mr. Grant in the fine arts department.
Next steps include formal incorporation of the courses into school schedules and principal-level review of individual film selections and parent permission processes.
