Grad Rules and Comment Summary

Following the passage of HB 1599 (2019) SBE began the rulemaking process to address changes to the graduation requirements outlined in the bill. The proposed rules address changes based on three other pieces of legislation that made changes to the civics requirement and high school and beyond plan requirement.

The proposed rules include a reorganization of the chapter and overall review of rules to clarify language and update references. Find a link to the rules chapter on the SBE rulemaking page, we'll update it with a link to the Code Reviser's published rules when we recieve it.

SBE has received hundreds of comments through formal letters, emails, and public comment at the October 24th hearing. In addition, Board members and staff have spoken with a number of stakeholder groups about the changes in the law and the proposed rules. You can download a summary of the key issues that were raised through this process.

It is important to note that many of the comments we received are either outside the scope of the rulemaking (for example removing the testing requirement or adding additional pathway options) or reflect concerns related to implementation. As an example, we have heard from a number of school district officials who are concerned that moving from state assessments (as a the primary vehicle to demonstrate college and career readiness for graduation) to a system where multiple graduation pathway options are available to demonstrate career and college readiness, may make it challenging to encourage students to sit for the state assessments.

The summary of issues raised is focused on comments that are within the scope of the rulemaking and policy decisions the Board were able to consider in rule. The intent is to highlight the most prominent themes to emerge from the public comment process. In addition to rulemaking, the Board has also been tasked with assessing the adequacy and equity of the pathway options. That research will take in to consideration feedback received during the rulemaking process as well as focus groups and surveys that are now underway. Reports and possible recommendations are due to the Legislature in 2020 and 2022.

Themes in comments received included:

• CTE course sequence
• Articulation of high school credit earned in middle school
• IEP exemption from required coursework
• International Baccalaureate (IB)
• ASVAB
• Dual credit pathway

Updated relevant resources:

• Graduation Pathway Options page
• Graduation Requirements page
• ASVAB page
• Rulemaking page
• Summary of feedback