Susan Dargie, Westfield curriculum director at the Nov. 17 School Committee. She said the new high school graduation requirements will prepare the students for career and college readiness.
Photo credit: Westfield Community TV
WESTFIELD — At the Nov. 17 School Committee meeting, Susan Dargie, director of curriculum and instruction, and Christine Shea, director of assessment and accountability, reviewed the proposed changes to the graduation requirements for Westfield High School and Westfield Technical Academy due to the elimination of MCAS assessments as one of the requirements for graduation.
Shea also talked about the potential for students that graduated between 2003 to 2024 who didn’t pass MCAS and received a Certificate of Attainment instead of a diploma to come back to determine if they meet the updated requirements based on their records.
She said if they do meet the updated policy, “We can give that student a diploma with the year they graduated. We have had one student at Westfield High School that met the requirements and did receive a diploma.”
There is currently a form posted on the Westfield Public Schools website for students who graduated with a Certificate of Attainment instead of a diploma because they failed to meet one or more of the MCAS graduation requirements in place at the time they completed high school.
Dargie said later that one of the sad things about the MCAS requirements was that it negated a student’s four years of work with three MCAS assessments.
Dargie presented to the committee the proposed new graduation requirements, which she said were largely based on MassCorp, a recommended program of study for high school students, originally released in 2006, adopted in 2007 and amended in 2018.
She said current WHS graduation requirements are mostly aligned with MassCorp, with the exception of math.
“We currently require three credits. The recommendation is to go to four credits,” she said. ”Many of our students are taking four credits; this would make it a requirement for all students.” She said this would be the only change to meet MassCorp requirements at this time.
Dargie said the changes for WHS will begin with next year’s freshman class that will graduate in 2030, and would include the fourth credit of math.
Another change will be to eliminate the physical education exemption for juniors and seniors, equalling one credit total, a half credit for each year.
“We need them taking PE. The purpose of the PE class is to teach skills. If students cannot fit PE in their schedule, there are other ways they can meet the requirement,” Dargie said, adding, “The reason we need another PE and health teacher is because we are going to eliminate the sports exemption.”
Dargie said WTA does not have a sport exemption.
“The sport exemption was originally intended for students who had a full caseload and could not fit PE into their schedule, and they were a varsity athlete. We just have other ways to accommodate those students. What has happened is many students have the PE exemption but don’t have a full schedule, they have room for it. If a student with a full schedule were to request an exemption, principals can exempt students on a case by case basis, and there are other ways to satisfy that PE requirement for those students,” she said.
Another change for WHS will be to increase electives, which are currently at five to seven credits. However, these must include one credit of computer science and one in the arts, which is already required. Dargie said computer science is not currently a requirement, but legislation is in process to make it a requirement by 2030. “We believe we’re sending students prepared if they have a course in computer science.”
She said the total required credits will increase from the current 22 to 24. She said as students have a seven-period day, they have the potential to earn 28 credits.
“We believe 24 credits is absolutely doable for all students,” she said, adding that requirements for internships and career pathways will still be able to be met by students.
As proposed, the new graduation requirements for Westfield High School, totalling 24 credits, are English — four credits, math — four, social studies — three, science — three, computer science — one, physical education — two, health — 0.5, financial literacy — 0.5, arts — one, and electives — five.
Dargie said one of the changes for WTA is to increase requirements for science and social sciences. Currently, WTA requires 2.5 credits in science, and 2.5 in social sciences. The recommendation is to increase that requirement by one-half credit each. She said WTA already requires four credits in math. Financial literacy, which is a half credit, must be taken as part of social sciences.
She said the WTA proposed requirements also begin with the freshman class that will be graduating in 2030, and include social studies and science from 2.5 to three credits, and keeping PE and health as a combined one credit. She said the shift there to meet the requirement is to have students take PE or health every year.
“The WTA schedule is complicated, and there are wizards there that are able to get kids everything that they need,” Dargie said. She said many students at WTA take their requirements during their freshman and sophomore years.
As proposed, the new graduation requirements for Westfield Technical Academy, totalling 32 credits, are English — four, math — four, social studies — three, science — three, physical education/health — one, electives — one, and Career Technical Program courses —16.
Dargie said the changes will require adding a math, physical education, health and a computer science teacher over the next several years.
School Committee member Michael Tirrell asked if the additional staff will have to start all at once.
Dargie said conversations have started. WHS Principal Charles Jendrysik and Assistant Principal Andrew Joseph are already looking at what the changes will mean for scheduling. She said the computer science teacher would be the first added, as they only have one at WHS.
“We do have teachers who would potentially be able to teach some of those introductory courses in other content areas. We haven’t gotten as far as which will be needed in what order. Because this is beginning with our freshman class, it won’t need to be part of next year’s budget,” Dargie said.
“Nobody is going to be in a deficit here. We’re enhancing what students are doing. Our Westfield students graduating in 2030 are going to be well prepared for the future of career and college readiness,” Dargie said after the meeting, adding they are looking ahead.
She said they have to be thinking ahead to what the students will need five years into the future. “We just have to keep up with the changes.”
Member Jeffrey Gunther said he wanted to be sure he was tracking where the recommendations are coming from.
“We’re looking at increasing math from three to four and adding computer science to better align with MassCore. We are not yet recommending any changes to language requirements which would also be necessary to be fully aligned with MassCore but are not making that change. The elimination of the sports exemption requirement and additional physical education and health is not related to MassCore, but is something we should be doing just to be compliant with state law,” he said.
Dargie said MassCore does require physical education to be compliant with state law, so it should be in there, but the change itself is in compliance with the state law. She said the students need the information they are getting in the health and physical education class.
Dargie and Shea said they would bring back the draft graduation requirements to the School Committee on Dec. 1 for a first reading and vote. The new requirements must be submitted to DESE for posting by Dec. 31.
