Hull School Committee Approves New Graduation Requirements After MCAS Change
Students must pass four years of English, four years of math, and three years of science to graduate; district also plans open houses to attract and retain students
HULL - March 10 - The Hull School Committee approves a new competency determination policy for graduation requirements, no longer requiring MCAS scores for the class of 2025 and beyond. The change comes in response to a November 2023 statewide vote that decoupled MCAS testing from graduation requirements.
"The vote did not overturn the requirement that students meet a competency determination. It just removed MCAS as the vehicle by which a student would meet it," explains Hull High School Principal Rob Shaw.
Under the new policy, students must pass four years of English, four years of math, and three years of science to meet graduation requirements. These requirements align with Hull's existing local graduation standards.
"Most importantly, in summary, what we just did for the class of 2025 would apply to the class of 2026 as well because that language is in this program of studies for the year going forward," Shaw says.
Superintendent Michael Jette notes that the district had to act quickly after the November vote changed the landscape for graduation requirements.
"This was sort of the rug being pulled out from underneath the class of 2025. So we had to come up with something that would work," Jette says.
The committee also approved changes to the program of studies for the 2025-26 school year, including reducing the required credits from 42 to 39 per year. This change aims to reduce pressure on elective departments and give students more flexibility in their schedules.
"By moving them down to 39, we reduce the pressure on those elective departments, but give students a little bit of a break in their day," Shaw explains. "This is where we would put something like a study hall in the place of this extra course, where students would have an opportunity to catch up on some homework during the school day."
The change also addresses equity concerns for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) who currently have less access to electives than their peers.
"The students who are on IEPs, for example, take a course called Strategies for Learning that they're scheduled for. It's called for in their IEPs, in place of one of these electives, which means that they do not have access to these electives that the students not on IEPs have access to," Shaw says.
Committee member Kyle Conley expressed some hesitation about reducing academic rigor but acknowledged the benefits of the change.
"There is a gut feeling inside of me that worries a little bit about any time we're actually making our experience at Hull less rigorous," Conley says. "But if you tell me that this is an opportunity for us to make sure that kids that are struggling have this extra time... I agree."
The program of studies also includes new course offerings such as robotics and AP Chemistry, as well as dual enrollment opportunities with Quincy College for pre-calculus and calculus honors courses.
In a separate discussion, the committee addressed concerns about student retention and recruitment. The district plans to organize open houses and realtor tours to showcase Hull schools' offerings and prevent students from transferring to charter or private schools.
"We need to put back on the radar school choice," says Committee Chair David Twombly. "We want to keep our students that we currently have, we don't want them transferring, whether it's to a charter school or to a private school."
Twombly suggests reinstating past practices such as admissions open houses and realtor tours of the schools.
"We used to send out to the realtors in town, and we also had a tour of all three schools, but now it would be two schools, where we invite the realtors to come on campus and we give them a tour of the schools," Twombly says.
Jette confirms the district is already working on these initiatives.
"We've already pulled the realtor information, so we're looking at that, because that's an important piece, especially if we're in the spring season where the housing market does tend to have more availability," Jette says.
Committee member Liliana Hedrick supports the idea of showcasing the schools' offerings.
"I think that would really be effective at the middle school level as well, because I can say going into it, there was none of that," Hedrick says. "It would be really nice to have that transition feel very real."
The committee also discussed forming a subcommittee to meet with the Hull Redevelopment Authority (HRA) regarding plans for a potential community center that could impact school programs and facilities.
The next regular School Committee meeting is scheduled for March 24 at Town Hall, where they will meet with the Advisory Committee at 7 p.m.