Flanagan proposes new graduation requirement
Date: 3/7/2013
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comEAST LONGMEADOW — At the School Committee's Feb. 25 meeting, East Longmeadow High School Principal Gina Flanagan proposed the addition of a graduation requirement that would require all students complete four years' worth of math courses.
Flanagan and Superintendent Gordon Smith explained that new recommendations by the Massachusetts High School Program of Studies, also known as MassCore, as well as rising admissions standards at state universities through the Massachusetts Department of High Education, have prompted the need for change.
"It really is in the best interest of our college-bound, and even our career-bound students to be getting those four years of math," Flanagan said.
Flanagan said that the proposal would require members of the class of 2015 to take four years of math, one year prior to the state's requirement to have such a policy in place for the class of 2016. She added the state of the school's current curriculum would make such a transition an easy one.
"We already push four years of math at East Longmeadow High School. About 88 percent of our students currently do take four years of math, so that would not be a challenge for them," she said, adding later that she felt starting the requirement with this year's sophomores will make them more competitive when applying to college while not putting anyone in danger of not graduating.
Flanagan elaborated on the process by stating that the math department is currently working on devising a plan of action regarding the addition.
"What the department is currently doing is having conversations on what that four-year math would potentially be," she said, explaining that the high school currently offers advanced math courses such as pre-calculus, inductive reasoning and trigonometry as well as Advanced Placement offerings. "We want to ensure that in the fourth year, we have a math level appropriate for all students."
She went on to say that new classes may have to be devised because certain courses that could be construed as math classes, such as accounting, are not currently accepted as such by Massachusetts state colleges.
Members of the School Committee voiced concerns with the language and wanted clarification as to whether the wording in the regulations from the MassCore and the Department of Higher Education specifically requested four years or four courses.
Smith and Flanagan said they would investigate further, but Smith said it was his understanding that if a student were to take two math classes in one year because of the district's use of block scheduling, it would count as two years' worth and a student could graduate "if you have four courses on your transcript." He added that any class from which a student tests out is also listed on their transcript.
School Committee Chair Richard Freccero said the committee would vote on the requirements at their next meeting, which is scheduled for March 18. The previously scheduled March 4 meeting was cancelled.
