Graduation Requirements Announcement

During the spring 2009 session of the Texas Legislature, House Bill 3 was passed which included new graduation requirements. While the commissioner of education gave flexibility to school districts to make the new requirements effective for all students, he also gave school districts the authority to impose local requirements above those outlined in the legislation.

The changes in the Recommended High School Program do not impact the number of credits a student needs to graduate; however, the changes do allow a district to drop certain credits to allow more electives or to keep the requirements as they have been.
Because the legislation was enacted so late in the session, it would be almost impossible for our high schools to accommodate a change in schedules. Teachers have been hired based on the previous requirements and the student schedules set in the spring. Therefore, the Mesquite ISD will keep graduation requirements for the senior class of 2010 as they were when the students entered the ninth grade. In addition, no schedule changes for any grade level will be made for the 2009-2010 school year based on legislative changes since graduation requirements will not be approved by the Board of Education until December.

The credits that have been deleted from the state requirements in the Recommended High School Program are a half credit in physical education, a half credit in health, and a credit in Technology Applications. All three of these are valuable classes. While students may be proficient with computer games and the Internet, few are proficient with word processing, spreadsheet, and database which form the curriculum for Technology Applications. In our health classes, students learn about living a healthy lifestyle and the dangers of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases. In the PE curriculum, students learn ways to keep themselves physically fit and have the opportunity to participate in physical activity. We will evaluate these classes in the fall to determine whether or not they should be locally required classes for all graduation plans in the future.

In September and October a district committee will study the new graduation requirements and will make recommendations to our board of education in December. We welcome input from students, teachers, parents and the community concerning the graduation requirements. You may submit comments through the district website or in writing to Cathy Rideout, 405 E. Davis, Mesquite, TX 75149.