Chief of Student Services Yolanda Johnson presents updated competency determination requirements that Springfield high school students pass to graduate. Administered by DESE, the requirements passed the School Committee in a vote on Sept. 4.
Photo credit: Focus Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Public Schools are one of the many districts across the commonwealth still reckoning with new competency determination rules now that high schoolers are no longer required to pass the MCAS to graduate.
Using guidelines administered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education over the summer, the Springfield School Committee voted in favor of updating the district’s competency determination benchmarks for the class of 2026 and 2027.
The new requirements illustrate what students need to do to graduate high school in a post-MCAS landscape.
“The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requires that we update and revise our policy to reflect their current guidance,” said Superintendent Sonia Dinnall, during the committee’s Sept. 4 regular meeting. “So as of July 2025, we have new guidance, and we must have it completed in a timely manner in order to meet the DESE identified deadline.”
On top of meeting local graduation requirements, class of 2026 students need to attain other coursework requirements in order to graduate.
That means they must earn two years of credits in English 9, 10, 11 or 12; receive a passing grade in Algebra I and Geometry and receive a passing grade in a laboratory science course or technology/engineering course.
Class of 2027 students, meanwhile, would need to accomplish those same benchmarks and earn a U.S. History credit in order to graduate, according to the updated CD guidelines.
Students in both classes must also show a mastery of skills in English language arts, mathematics and science through a final assessment for a course, a capstone/portfolio project or an equivalent measure identified in the district’s CD policy.
“As described in the new regulations, the CD represents two accomplishments: showing a mastery of skills in English language arts, mathematics and science; and the satisfactory completion of relevant coursework aligned to the standards measured by the high school English language arts, mathematics and science MCAS assessments administered in 2023,” reads DESE’s updated CD policy.
According to the new regulations, there are certain considerations SPS can follow to address its diverse population, said Chief of Student Services Yolanda Johnson.
Students who do not achieve the aforementioned coursework requirements may enroll in summer school, credit recovery or be scheduled to take additional coursework by their school counselor to meet academic standards outlined in the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework, according to the regulations.
Johnson shared that students who don’t meet the mastery requirements listed above could utilize recovery opportunities to demonstrate competence through a capstone project, college level course or some performance-based assessment.
There are also other considerations for students on 504 plans as well as those who are multi-language learners or have certain cognitive disabilities that affect their learning, according to Johnson.
“It’s the CD requirements plus the local graduation requirements to earn a diploma from Springfield Public Schools, and then we have a provision for students who might transfer into [a] Springfield public high school at any point in their high school career,” Johnson said.
Although the committee approved the new CD requirements, the decision did not come without debate.
Prior to the vote, a lengthy discussion ensued around what should constitute a passing grade in the SPS. Right now, the district considers a D minus to be a passing grade, but some on the body felt that was too low a bar for students to reach.
School Committee member Joesiah Gonzalez, the lone dissenting vote, argued that the threshold for passing was not a challenging enough standard to meet and sent the wrong message to the public.
Because the district technically has until Dec. 31 to submit its CD policy to DESE, he added that a subcommittee should further scrutinize the language over the coming weeks.
“A low standard of a D minus, what does that communicate to our students in the city of Springfield,” Gonzalez said. “It sends the wrong message, especially when higher ed[ucation] institutions won’t tolerate that … a D to me says we don’t believe.”
Mayor Domenic Sarno and School Committee member LaTonia Monroe Naylor also pondered the possibility of revisiting grading standards in the district. Both considered the impact a D minus threshold could have on student athletes and those looking to receive scholarships.
“If we were to raise [the passing grade threshold] now without preparing our students and our staff … it could have a detrimental effect on the graduation rates,” Monroe Naylor said.
“But there’s also the reality that if our students don’t have at least a 2.0 [GPA], we’re setting them up for failure. There’s a lot of scholarships that will not allow you to maintain the scholarship if you graduate and your GPA is too low.”
Dinnall said revising the grading policy in SPS is an issue that her office hopes to consider in its revisal of the district’s Pupil Progression Plan, which defines expectations for the academic progress of SPS students.
“It is a policy that will be updated and reviewed as we update and review the Pupil Progression Plan,” Dinnall said. “We most definitely will align our pass rate with the research that says the power of a 2.0 and how that would open career and college opportunities to our students.”
Johnson, meanwhile, noted that the grading policy has been in place for decades, and although she hears the need for it to be addressed, she reminded the body that the district’s CD policy must align with DESE’s guidelines.
“We also want to be mindful of those students that are with us now, and we have to look at a policy, our CD policy, to ensure that we are in alignment with the state guidelines and expectations,” Johnson said.
School Committee member Christopher Collins agreed with Johnson’s point, saying that the only job of the School Committee on Sept. 4 was to align with the state’s CD guidelines, so that’s what they should do.
“Unfortunately, this conversation has made a fruit salad and mixed three very different things together,” Collins said. “What we’re being asked tonight is to come in compliance with the state and I think we should do that.”
The School Committee ultimately voted 5-1 in favor of updating the CD requirements for the district. As was the case before, former students who were enrolled in SPS between the period of 2003 to 2024 but did not graduate because they did not pass MCAS, may still apply for a diploma if they met the CD requirements.
According to Johnson, SPS may need to revisit these requirements after Gov. Maura Healey’s K-12 Graduation Council releases a report on the matter in December.
