Kristin Hebert, PISD’s director of secondary academics, presented the recommendations at the Oct. 18 work session of the board of trustees. She said the proposed courses came from a district committee “looking for ways to position all of our students for the future that they desire.”
Trustees are expected to vote on the proposed courses at a future meeting.
In making its recommendations, the committee looked at graduation requirements, state standards, scheduling options, student enrollment, staffing, facility requirements and budget, among other things, she said.
Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey praised the group for including personal finance among the new offerings.
“That’s part of being life ready,” Humphrey said.
The course would fill the requirement at the high school level for an economics course, according to staff.
“Our community has been asking for this for some time,” board member Jeri Chambers said.
Staff is also recommending a new Strategic Learning for High School Mathematics course to help ninth- and 10th-graders who might be struggling with math.
Other proposed courses include Environmental Careers Practicum, Introduction to Cosmetology, Cosmetology I and Practicum of Entrepreneurship. Another recommended course called Multilingual Acculturation Studies for Newcomers would help students who are new to the U.S., Hebert said.
The committee is also recommending Astronomy and Earth Systems be approved as new science courses for fall 2024 so staff can start working on that curriculum this school year.
The committee also proposed revisions to several high school courses so they would be available to more grades.
A handful of courses would be dropped in the future due to low interest, Hebert said. Among them are Turf Grass Management, Touch System Data Entry, and Family and Community Services. The committee also recommended dropping Honors Physics and incorporating key parts from that class into revised courses of AP Physics I and AP Physics II.
