Graduation requirements set to change
by Brian DiTullio

DVUSD – Next year’s high school freshmen should pay attention. Your requirements for graduation are about to change.

Dr. Virginia McElyea, superintendent of Deer Valley Unified School District, informed the governing board Sept. 11 that the state is changing the requirements for math and science credits needed to graduate.

Beginning with the freshman class of 2009, students will be required to earn four math credits instead of three, and three science credits instead of two.

McElyea said the good news for DVUSD is the overall credits needed to graduate won’t change, just the distribution. While the state has raised the total credits needed for graduation from 20 to 22, DVUSD already requires students to have 22 credits to receive a diploma.

How that distribution will be changed has yet to be decided. McElyea advocated the formation of a committee to handle “21st century” educational issues.

The other side of this initiative, according to the superintendent, is DVUSD, along with all other school districts in Arizona, is going to need more math and science teachers. She said this is problematic, as math and science teachers are already in high demand and short supply.

“It is currently difficult to recruit in‑state math and science teachers,” said McElyea. “This initiative will also create a need for additional world language teachers and impact our elective courses.”

“This has to be addressed,” said governing board member Christy Agosta, referring to the contentious salary negotiations with the district’s teachers earlier this year. “We already had problems.”

McElyea pointed out the state is looking at introducing more incentive programs for prospective teachers at the university level, to which board member and State Rep. Tom Boone responded he has seen such bills moving through the legislature but was unsure of specifics.

McElyea also informed the board the Arizona School Administrators Association is developing a position statement “addressing the implication for funding increased operations costs.”

In a related issue, McElyea said there will be two types of diplomas students will be able to seek in the future, the standard state diploma and a new Regents Diploma. The difference is the Regents Diploma is “an alternative pathway that reflects Arizona Board of Regents admissions policy requirements,” according to her presentation.

The requirements for the Regents Diploma are no different than what DVUSD already requires.