Extra credit may be needed

May 24, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Starting in 2009, high school graduates of the Mat-Su Borough School District may have to earn an additional credit in order to receive a diploma.

On Wednesday, the MSB School Board considered increasing the graduation requirement from 21 to 22 credits. The revision would raise the number of credits in science and social studies and require credits in career and technical education, fine arts and world languages.

If approved by the board, the new requirements would effectively eliminate six semesters of English electives and replace them with two semesters of English 2 and four semesters of language arts electives.

In the mathematics department, the new standards would replace four semesters of math electives with two semesters of algebra and two semesters of geometry.

Connie Lutz, the district's executive director of curriculum and assessment, said the new policy is

meant to clarify what is being taught in certain courses, while also adding several new requirements. According to Lutz, required courses in vocational education, fine arts and world languages are aimed

at equipping students with

a more well-rounded

education.

"This addresses the whole child," she said, adding that the foreign language additions reflect the mission of the district to develop students for a global society. "When you learn another language, you learn a lot about your own language."

The proposed changes also reflect the state's new requirements for an Alaska history course as well as the physical science requirements by the NCAA.

The school board will take up the issue again at its next scheduled meeting at 6 p.m., June 1, at Palmer High School.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.