BATON ROUGE, La. (WGNO) – The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is backing off on a tougher school accountability system for now.
The decision was made during one of BESE’s committee meetings Tuesday and comes after pushback from local school leaders, including some in St. Tammany Parish.
The problem with or the concerns we are having with the standards that are being proposed today, it’s a fundamental shift in how high schools are going to be conceived in the State of Louisiana,” St. Tammany Parish School Board Member Michael Nation said.
According to Nation, currently, a student who graduates with a high school diploma earns the school a number of points. With the new standards, Nation says the school receives zero points for a diploma and that each student would be encouraged to do more.
“Students are going to have to take twelve dual enrollment courses, or they’ll take two AP courses and pass the AP exams, or they can get an advanced work credential,” Nation explained.
The former school board president believes the proposed accountability system would put school boards in an uncomfortable position.
“How are we going to force parents to force their kids to take an AP course or dual enrollment course? I mean, that’s problematic. At best, it’s problematic,” Nation said.
The District 6 school board member says he and other school board members are open to discussion.
“Hit the pause button. Get some more input. Work with school boards and with the superintendents to have this conversation about this fundamental shift in the high school experience,” Nation said.
The discussion about the new accountability standards has been deferred for two months.