Florida lawmakers push to remove these grad requirements for high schoolers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – High schoolers may get a bit more wiggle room when it comes to graduating with the help of this Florida bill.

The bill (SB 166) was filed last month by state Rep. Corey Simon, R-3, and it would make graduation requirements for high schoolers a bit more flexible.

Current rules require that Florida high school students pass a statewide, standardized grade 10 English Language Arts assessment and an Algebra I end-of-course assessment (or earn a comparable score such as on an SAT or ACT) to earn their diploma.

However, this bill aims to get rid of those requirements.

Instead, the grade 10 ELA assessment would constitute 30% of a student’s final course grade, meaning that students could potentially fail the assessment and still graduate.

“The bill does not remove the requirement for students to take all statewide, standardized assessments or to meet the course requirements for the 24-credit diploma option,” Legislative analysts wrote.

Aside from the graduation requirements, the bill would also implement a number of other changes, including the following:

• School districts would no longer have to receive approval from the FDOE on its personnel evaluation systems.
• The requirement to demonstrate mastery of general knowledge would only be applied to classroom teachers — not librarians, school counselors or social workers.
• The teacher apprenticeship program would be extended to candidates enrolled in college, not just to those who’ve earned an associate’s degree.
• School districts receiving over $500 million in government funding would no longer be required to employ an internal financial auditor.
• School boards would be allowed to intervene earlier if a student has at least 10 unexcused absences.
• The cost-per-student station limitation imposed on district school board construction projects would be removed.

The bill has already been approved by two Senate committees and is set to be considered in another before going to the full Senate for a vote.

If approved, the bill will take effect on July 1.