ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 15, 1997 TAG: 9703170020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER THE ROANOKE TIMES
Pulaski High students will have to pass a world history course to graduate.
Students at Pulaski County High School will now be required to pass a course in world history before they can graduate.
The county School Board voted Thursday night to make that course one of the required social studies courses necessary for graduation.
The change had been discussed previously with the faculty and staff at the school. The number of credits needed to graduate remains the same, but students would lose the chance to take one elective.
"We're going to get to the point where we don't have any electives, if we keep going," said board member Rhea Saltz. "And I know we can't do anything about this, but I do have some concerns about where we're going."
The additional course is in line with what the state is requiring of graduates in its standards. "We have to do it, no question about it, but that don't mean I have to like it," Saltz said.
Actually, this new requirement for graduation is mild, compared to what the graduating classes of 2001 and beyond are facing.
Associate Superintendent Phyllis Bishop outlined the state's new standards of accreditation, including passage of Literacy Passport and other tests that will be required to receive a diploma.
School Superintendent Bill Asbury said educators cannot wait until those requirements become effective, but must start preparing students who will be graduating to be able to meet them. Students will have to meet increasingly rigorous standards, he said, "for this community to get where it says it wants to go" in education.
Bishop agreed that waiting for the new requirements to become effective would be too late. The impending standards have ramifications, she said, for today's kindergarten through high school classes.
Jane Goette, the school system's coordinator for its gifted and talented program, and Cheri Warburton, representing a parental support committee, made a pitch for an additional teacher for that program.
Goette also outlined some planned changes in the program, such as relying less on intellectual ability and more on accomplishments in math and language arts in choosing students for gifted and talented classes. She is also working toward standardizing gifted and talented classes from one county school to another.
Asbury gave a preliminary outline for the proposed 1997-98 school budget, which is scheduled for a public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday. It will then be submitted at 7 p.m. April 7 to the county Board of Supervisors.
The next regular School Board meeting was changed from its regular date to 6 p.m. April 15.
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