Pasadena ISD and all school districts in the state were notified in June that the state requirements for graduation will change beginning in the 2009-2010 school year. The state has reduced the physical education requirement from 1 ½ to 1 credit, and eliminated the 1 credit of technology and ½ credit for health. The state will instead require six elective courses.

The state does give every district the option to have additional graduation requirements on top of those of the state, so Pasadena ISD will continue with its current graduation requirements for the 2009-2010 school year based on the following reasons:

·        Students’ schedules were done in the spring. Changing graduation requirements at this time would result in students losing valuable education time while processing schedule changes.

·        The staffing for high schools has already been arranged based on the existing requirements.  The district does not have enough staff available to teach alternative courses.

·        These currently-required courses contain state-required information which much be covered.  If these courses are not offered, curricular changes must be made to include the information in other subject areas.

Pasadena ISD will be carefully evaluating the new state requirements and current local requirements for the 2010-11 school year to determine what will be most beneficial for students.

If you have questions about graduation requirements, please contact your student’s counselor.