ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County students might miss electives such as art, Spanish or technical drawing as school administrators strive to meet business demands that students graduate with basic math and science skills.
Tuesday night, Superintendent Herman Bartlett proposed tougher graduation requirements. For both the standard and the advanced diploma, students would have to take more math, science and social studies classes.
School Board members said they supported the higher expectations, but said the sacrifice is too great.
"I don't think anyone would be against challenging students," said Chairwoman Annette Perkins during the School Board meeting, "but we don't want to make it too difficult for [students] to choose fine arts or foreign language or whatever other electives they might be interested in."
Bartlett said repeatedly that the tougher requirements are necessary to keep up with societal demands.
"What we're hearing from the community is that these students aren't ready for businesses or college" when they graduate from high school, he said.
For example, to meet the standard diploma requirements now, students must take two math and two science classes, and choose either a math or science for an additional credit. In the proposed changes, schools would try to steer students to the "principal's" diploma, where students would have to take four math and four science classes, Bartlett said.
That would lower the number of electives from 12 to eight.
The proposed "scholar's" diploma, which requires two more credits to graduate than the standard one, would allow students only five electives during four years in high school.
Perkins said it seemed the proposed requirements would be easier to meet with a block scheduling format. That system, used for the first time this year at Christiansburg and Shawsville high schools, provides for a total of eight classes each year, rather than the usual seven.
Member Jim Klagge said he feared if more math, science and social studies teachers were hired to meet the new class numbers, fine arts and other teachers would lose classes.
The board will discuss the issue again at its next meeting Aug. 6 where the public will have a chance to speak to the board.
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