The Graduation Requirement Review Committee is scheduled to present their recommendations for changes to the graduation requirements as part of the budget process at a School Committee meeting in November. Composed of Principal Dan Twomey, Head of Guidance Lauren Clark, two students, several parents, multiple curriculum coordinators, and a school committee member, the graduation committee started meeting in June 2024 to review the graduation requirements after the failure of the override of Proposition 2 ½ at the town meeting last May.
“During last year’s process, [as] we were developing the budget, questions came about as far as staffing and what classes were part of graduation requirements and [what classes were] more important,” Twomey said. “And [the question was,] if there were any graduation requirements that would change, either added or subtracted, would it impact the budget line?”
The committee met during school hours two Thursdays a month. With these meetings, they were able to narrow down the requirements by importance. A survey was sent out to the students on Oct. 3 to receive input on the matter.
“We basically found that the schools that we compare ourselves against, what colleges want to see for graduation, what we think students need to graduate from here still include those [core subjects like] math, English, social studies, [and] science,” Twomey said. “We felt like those were important. So there’s been no major changes.”
The main focus of the committee is the requirements for classes that are not core subjects, such as physical education (P.E.), health, visual and performing arts, business, and technology. This includes the possibility of adding a Personal Finance class requirement because the class would better help prepare students for adulthood. Adding a computer science requirement is another consideration, as there is interest in computer science graduation requirements across the country.
“Adding new graduation requirements is challenging in terms of both resources and scheduling,” sophomore committee member Ibsham Bhatra said. “It could potentially require additional oversight, which might strain the school’s staffing and budget.”
One of the requirements that the committee has been debating is a topic that has been circulating around Westford Academy for years; the requirement that students take P.E. for one semester each year. Some schools, including Groton Dunstable, Lincoln Sudbury, and Littleton, offer an alternative P.E. requirement where students can substitute taking the class every year with participating in an after-school sport, while other schools require two sports.
“The committee still doesn’t have that answer [about the P.E. requirement]. I think we have a variety of opinions,” Twomey said. “In the committee we’ve talked about, are [sports and P.E.] truly the same thing? And I think the information that has been provided is that they’re not the same thing. Could they meet the requirement? Possibly. But then there’s a lot of other issues that [we have to solve].”
