Dissenting votes were Steve Dal Porto and Bob Hughes, who are WSSDA representatives to the SBE, and SPI Randy Dorn. Voting in support were Connie Fletcher, Bunker Frank and Tre Maxie, also WSSDA representatives to the SBE.
The State Board chose to adopt the new rules for the graduating class of 2016, but to allow districts to request a two-year extension for only the English and Social Studies credit requirements.
To apply for the extension, a school district Board of Directors would need to pass a resolution to delay the implementation of English and Social Studies and file the written resolution with the Board by June 1, 2012. If filed with the Board, the changes would apply to the graduating class of 2018 rather than the class of 2016.
The extension was viewed by some State Board members as a compromise between members who wanted to proceed with the changes and those who were concerned about the fiscal impact on school districts that don’t meet the requirements now.
Dal Porto also mentioned his concern about breaking the State Board’s commitment with school districts to push forward no unfunded mandates until funding is provided for the changes.
The biggest rule changes are increasing the credit requirement for English from 3 credits to 4 credits, and moving from 2.5 credits to 3 credits of social studies. In addition, the rule change adds a .5 credit requirement for civics, makes successful completion of Washington state history a non-credit requirement, and reduces the number of electives from 5.5 credits to 4 credits.
