Class of 2016 Faces Rule Revisions to State Graduation Requirements

Change is coming to Washington state high schools – but not just yet.

On Nov. 10, the Washington State Board of Education approved multiple changes to the state’s high school graduation requirements. The Class of 2016 will be required to take more English and social studies classes.

That translates to an additional year, or credit, of English and an extra half-credit in social studies.

An extra credit of science will also be required, and the number of elective credits will fall from 5.5 to two.

The added credits bring Washington more in line with other states’ high-school graduation requirements. Prior to the rule revision, 45 states required more English and in 39 states, more social studies than Washington. The state’s graduating classes through 2015 are required to take three credits of English and 2.5 credits of social studies.

District spokeswoman Ann Cook said that the rule revisions will not have a huge impact on the Sumner School District, which has two high schools, Sumner and Bonney Lake.

“I think that just in general terms, we’re in pretty good shape,” she said. “We already meet or exceed state graduation requirements in most areas, so there won’t be significant changes in Sumner based on what is being proposed.”

Cook said that for instance, SSD already requires three credits of social studies – a half-credit more than the state is asking for.

“We would have to do some rethinking about where and how Civics is offered, but that’s more the detail part,” she said. “There are really two levels – meeting the graduation requirements in terms of credits, and then you get to the content areas.”

Cook said that the district will get to work on implementing such changes once formal guidelines have been approved by the state.

“(The) vote is the culmination of years of diligent and thoughtful work,” said Board Chair Jeff Vincent in a news release. “We are confident that these new requirements will result in more students graduating better prepared for the challenges ahead.”

The state has mandated that districts be allowed to receive a two-year extension from the new requirements in order to give them additional time to plan for and implement the required changes.

Cook said that as a district, SSD has been responding to changes at the state and federal level for years – graduation requirements, state assessments, different measures of learning.

“Change is constant,” she said.

Per the rule revisions, students are now able to take Washington State History in middle school and have it count toward graduation as a non-credit requirement. Students also may take a Career and Technical Education course and have it satisfy two requirements, such as CTE and fine arts.

Cook said that at this time, the changes will not have an effect on the district’s requirement for senior projects.