This past Thursday, February 27, our Littleton Public Schools Board of Education had a meeting to cover some issues that may affect many of Littleton High School’s students and staff. A few of these topics include graduation requirement changes and budget cuts.
Budget cuts and staffing changes in LPS:
Over the past few months, public schools, like LHS, have been experiencing more financial complications, causing talk of budget cuts and other changes taking place in LPS schools. As Littleton decided to reduce staff numbers for future years, total funds increased, but public opinions became diverse. Littleton High School teacher, speaks during the meeting,
“What was once a place of growth, creativity, and collaboration is now being dismantled and is harming students and teachers.”
Many others voiced the same concerns, including Gudy Gaskill parent, Katie Peshek.
“The staff members who are affected are among the very best in our district. At a time when we are struggling to attract and retain qualified teachers, losing their expertise isn’t just a loss for Gaskill, it’s a loss for LPS as a whole. These educators are integral to our school success and to the quality of education that our students receive.”
Graduation Requirement changes in LPS:
At this time LPS board members and others are evaluating graduation requirements, and making recommendations for possible changes that could be made before the next school year. There are many reasons why they are looking to change these requirements, including trying to align LPS requirements with other high schools in Colorado. The current requirement for math is 2 credits or 4 semesters to graduate. One of the things they are looking to change is requiring students to take 6 semesters or have 3 credits to graduate. A new course that is also looking to be inputted as a LPS graduation requirement is Personal Financial Literacy. Students would be required to complete one semester of personal financial literacy or have 0.5 credits. This course would provide students with information on how to manage finances for the immediate future and long term. One of the main requirements that may be changed is the necessity of students taking or test out of a swim class to graduate. Students would be required to take 3 semesters or have 1.5 credits to graduate. There is also a recommendation to increase the requirement in science from 2 credits to 3 credits.
Although these requests are not fully decided yet, they will discuss further at the next meeting on Thursday, March 13th, from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm. At the next meeting, the LPS Board of Education is also planning to talk about other matters including student enrollment and other items that impact teachers and students of LPS alike.
