House Bill 5 revamps graduation

"The expectations are not changing–the opportunities are just expanding and being reframed," Overman said.

Chief Learning Officer Rick Westfall said there are five endorsement plans under the bill, and districts get to decide what courses students need to take to receive those endorsements.

"It allows [students] to customize their classes so that they're getting that well-rounded education within an area of passion or something they're interested in," Overman said.

GCISD is still examining options to add courses in order to allow students the best possible choice of endorsement paths, Westfall said.

The Texas Education Agency continues to give guidance regarding the new system. The State Board of Education interprets any new information and then pushes it out to the school districts. Therefore, Westfall said the districts are getting the information nearly at the same time as parents. He said this is a critical time as registration for the 2014–15 school year is underway.

"There's a lot of good things about House Bill 5," Westfall said. "But it's more about how quickly can any district really understand it, and get it in place fast enough, so that we can make sure our kids are successful."

Communication is key

Carroll ISD is already in the process of adding courses to increase the variety of endorsements, approving six new courses to the science, technology, engineering and math endorsement in January, said JJ Villarreal, assistant superintendent for student services.

Under previous graduation plans, Villarreal said CISD offered an advanced program with 26 credits.

"Ninety-five percent of our students have graduated with the advanced diploma, so we feel that most of our students will participate in the [new] 26-credit plan," he said.

The new plan provides a greater emphasis on electives. According to the 2014–15 Academic Planning Guide, CISD enables students to earn one or more endorsements in a selection of five areas: arts and humanities; business and industry; multidisciplinary; public service; or STEM. Villarreal said he is confident in the staff of counselors on hand and said that they will be available to meet with students one-on-one to ensure a smooth process of registration.

With all the changes, both GCISD and CISD representatives said the biggest challenge they face is communicating with parents.

"I think the biggest celebration will be when we understand it well enough to really communicate it the way we need to be communicating it," Westfall said.