High School Graduation Requirements. Washington State students must meet various requirements to graduate high school and receive a diploma.  Students must complete 24 credits in specified subject areas as determined by the State Board of Education (SBE).  Students must also complete a High School and Beyond Plan (HBSP) and satisfy any local requirements.  Graduating students in the class of 2021 and subsequent classes must earn 17 core academic credits, four elective credits, and three locally determined personalized pathway credits.
 
The Legislature has also mandated instruction in specific subjects, examples of which include: cardiopulmonary resuscitation; AIDS prevention; comprehensive sexual health education; the constitutions of the United States and Washington; and civics in the form of a stand-alone course for high school students.
 
Graduation Pathways.  Students must meet the requirements of at least one graduation pathway to receive their high school diploma. These include:

•  meeting or exceeding a set standard on statewide English language arts (ELA) and mathematics assessments;
• completing and qualifying for college credit in dual credit courses in ELA and mathematics;
• earning high school credit in a high school transition course in ELA and mathematics;
• earning high school credit with a particular grade or receiving particular scores in AP, international baccalaureate, or Cambridge international courses;
• meeting or exceeding set scores on the SAT or ACT;
• completing a performance-based learning experience through which the student demonstrates knowledge and skills in a real-world context, providing evidence that the student meets or exceeds state learning standards in ELA and mathematics;
• meeting standards in the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery; or
• completing a sequence of career and technical education (CTE) courses that are relevant to the student's postsecondary pathway and that meet specific criteria.

School districts are encouraged to make all graduation pathway options available to their students, and to expand their list of options until all are offered, but districts are granted discretion in determining which pathway options they offer.
 
High School and Beyond Plan.  All high school students must have a HSBP. Each HSBP must be initiated in seventh- or eighth-grade with a career interest and skills inventory. The plan must be updated to reflect high school assessment results and must identify available interventions and academic support for students who are not on track to graduate.
 
All plans must include, among other items, an identification of career and educational goals, identification of dual credit opportunities, information on certain scholarship opportunities, and a four-year plan for course taking. Decisions on whether a student has met HSBP requirements are made at the local level.

Numerous organizational and technical revisions are made to graduation requirement provisions without modifying the requirements or the related school district and state agency duties and authorizations.
 
Examples of the nonsubstantive changes include consolidating graduation requirements into a specific statutory chapter, making grade and other references more consistent, and removing expired language.

PRO: You should not have to graduate from law school to know how to graduate from high school.  The bill creates a strong foundation to build upon.  Current requirements are scattered across different sections of state law.  This bill consolidates the most pertinent into a certain chapter, making the law more accessible.  By tidying up the statute at this juncture, it lays a solid foundation for future work by the State Board of Education in reviewing high school graduation requirements.