SAD 4 considers implementing tougher graduation requirements
Staff Writer
GUILFORD — The days of students receiving a “D” for their coursework and earning a high school diploma are numbered based on a new law passed by the Legislature last session. LD 1422 was adopted into law which requires students to show proficiency in all subject matters. Beginning in 2017, students will be required to achieve at least a “C” average in order to receive credit for coursework toward graduation requirements.
The SAD 4 school board discussed the new law on Jan. 8 which was first recommended for adoption by the state Department of Education in 2001. School districts are required to start moving toward implementing a new standards-based diploma to meet the requirements mandated by the legislation.
“What it means is that a student with a “D” won’t receive credit toward a diploma for his or her subject,” Superintendent Paul Stearns said. “They would receive a certificate and be allowed to participate during graduation services,”
The law allows districts to request a waiver until 2020 to fully implement the standards based diploma requirements.
The district is also devising a plan to offer more subjects for their seventh- and eighth-grade students. The district plans on changing their schedule next fall from 80-minute blocks to 60 and have more high school teachers teach middle school level courses.
District administrators met with the curriculum committee on Jan. 14 on how to implement the new schedule. School officials believe the change will stabilize the classroom size and provide students with more electives,
“This will allow us to do a better job to utilize the resources we have and deliver more programming for our students,” Stearns said. “We are very excited about the possibilities this change will provide for our students. It will decrease classroom size and increase student options.”
In other action, the board decided to adjust their plans to upgrade their heating system. The board had originally decided to request a voter-approved bond prior to soliciting bids for purchasing and installing two biomass energy systems. But the board believed the preliminary cost projections were too high and decided to first seek competitive bids before bringing the matter before the voters.
“We decided to change the order on how we proceed with the project,” Stearns said. “We want to bring a finite amount before the voters first which means finalizing the design project before asking approval for a bond.”
Stearns estimated once the district installed the wood pellet furnaces into their elementary and secondary schools it would save more than a million dollars over a 25-year period.