BUFFALO, N.Y. — Graduation requirements could look different for New York State high school students — the state's Blue Ribbon Commission has released graduation recommendations for review.
"This is a really good, in my opinion, first step out of the box," Mark Laurrie, Niagara Falls City School District superintendent, said. "Every student is not going to college, but this document gives us the responsibility and the flexibility to prepare us for the world of work."
The report, which has been in progress since November of 2019, contains twelve recommendations for high school graduation requirements:
In addition to Superintendent Laurrie, 7 News reporter Hannah Ferrera sat down with Cheryl Vilardo, Niagara Falls High School principal, to discuss her thoughts on the report — and how it could directly impact her students.
Vilardo said the diversity of assessment options the report offers goes hand-in-hand with the diversity of students.
"Having a one-size-fits-all standardized test does not allow our diverse learners — students with IEPs, students where English isn't their first language — I don't think it fully allows them to show what they know," Vilardo said.
7 News also spoke with Bob Bennett of the New York State Board of Regents on the phone who said it's important to include the perspective of what companies hiring these students post-graduation are looking for in an employee.
"When discussing career pathways, you have to include the business community to talk about the skills they want ... Some kids learn differently, so how can we best make sure that they're prepared when they get out of twelfth grade?"
Laurrie said the Niagara Falls School District has already been implementing some of these recommendations before they were released, and attributes this to the district's increased rate of high school graduates.
"We've moved from 67-percent in the last six years to 86-percent," Laurrie said. "The way we've been trying to lead this district lines up very nicely with this document."
In other words, Laurrie believes if other districts implement these recommendations, their graduation rates will rise as well.
Laurrie and Vilardo both said financial literacy, a skill included in the report's recommendations, is extremely important for students to learn.
"We have students who are heads of their household, who are managing their family's finances," Vilardo said. "We had a senior the other day say, 'I wish we had this [financial literacy] sooner because I've been making so many mistakes in how I've been helping my family.' "
The Board of Regents will be considering these recommendations in the near future.
"One challenge will be how the implementation occurs and being able to have the capacity and the infrastructure," Vilardo said.
However, leaders in education are excited for this potential movement.
"We've all been waiting for this change, and I don't think this comes a minute too soon," Laurrie said.
