The Board has received several public comments about a potential “vote on ethnic studies” over the past few days. This is not accurate. Please read on to find out what will actually be discussed at this week’s meeting.
As part of our work on the alignment of graduation requirements with the Washington Profile of a Graduate, SBE staff attended the Association of Washington Student Leaders (AWSL) student voice meeting on April 11, the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) Student Representative Network meeting on April 18, and held a student listening session facilitated by SBE student members Pavan Venkatakrishnan and McKenna Roberts on May 3. The AWSL meeting had approximately 25 students and the WSSDA Student Representative Network had approximately 10 students.
At the upcoming March 9-10 meeting, the State Board of Education will consider rules on graduation requirement emergency waivers for upcoming graduating classes, specifically focused on (but not limited to) the Class of 2023. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, similar emergency waiver rules have been adopted to help students struggling to graduate. The waiver was created as the pandemic impacted students’ ability to finish high school as they would have under normal conditions.
On February 25, beginning at 1:00 p.m., the State Board of Education (SBE) will host a special meeting where the Board will review and discuss a draft of emergency rules about the emergency graduation requirements waiver program. The draft is available to the public. The Board will receive public comment, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. SBE will also collect written public comment (email SBE@k12.wa.us).
SBE and the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) hosted a webinar last week featuring Linda Drake (SBE Director of Career- and College Readiness) and Jerry Price (OSPI Social Studies Program Supervisor) about new graduation requirements around social studies. Please find a video recording of the presentation here: Webinar Recording.
If you are a student or family member of a student, see the Families and Students page. Students are assigned an expected graduation year at the time they enter ninth grade (WAC 180-51-035). They are held to the graduation requirements of that graduation year regardless of the year they actually complete high school.
In our state, there are both required and encouraged educational offerings at each school district. The law tells us that districts must provide an educational program that allows students to meet graduation requirements.
Before the January 2021 Board meeting, members of the Association of Washington Student Leaders (AWSL) surveyed students from around the state about their wishes, wants, and concerns around graduation and graduation requirements. The following are some of the responses from current Washington students.