What a mess. The phones are ringing at the Richardson ISD administration building and at high schools and junior highs all over the district, with parents asking what changes they might need to make or want to make in their student’s summer and fall class schedules after Texas changed the graduation requirements. Education Commissioner Robert Scott ordered the changes to be effective immediately, surprising RISD administrators and catching the system offguard. “The substance and timing of the Commissioner’s announcement is frustrating at best,” longtime RISD school board member Luke Davis told me.
Yesterday, the RISD posted information about the changes on their website, sent a mass email, and made phone calls using their automated system. As the second session of summer school began this week, letters were given to students alerting their parents that “this class your child has enrolled in may not be required for graduation.” Afterward, the line formed to withdraw. “I certainly understand the frustrations of parents and I would likely be asking for a refund, too,” said Luke. But he’s also concerned that, if enough students withdraw, there will be excess staff for summer school, resulting in a financial loss to RISD. “AND some families would not have missed a vacation if the Commissioner had made his pronouncement earlier than July 3,” he added.
To be clear, there is no problem or penalty for taking courses no longer “required” – health, technology, and the third semester of PE (now only two semesters are required). The goal of the legislature was to give students more electives, and these courses will count as electives. But many students’ schedules are so full with other subjects that they were forced to take a few requirements via summer school or correspondence course – at personal expense to their families. It’s that time and expense that has parents fuming, since the courses are no longer required.
Yesterday’s communications to parents included pleas from the district for students to stay in the courses they enrolled in for the fall. The schools hire teachers based on these pre-enrollment figures, and the system will be strained if large numbers opt to drop these courses for ones that interest or benefit them more.
Parents are likely to get a much clearer picture the first week of August, when school counselors return from summer break. But they’ll have their hands full. Mandates from Austin are one thing, but digging into each file to make sure every student has the courses they need to graduate may be a real Texas-size task.
