Modesto City Schools changes graduation requirements. Where does ethnic studies fit?
As the school district prepares to implement its ethnic studies class for fall 2025, Modesto City Schools’ board of education voted 5-2 to change the graduation requirements for incoming ninth-graders.
This change will add a five-unit ethnic studies course for freshmen. The once-required world religion and geography course will become an elective. Also, a semester of practical art no longer will be required.
The new graduation requirements will lower the total credits needed from 230 to 220.
In addition, migrant or newcomer students entering their junior or senior year into an MCS high school are exempt from district-specific graduation requirements beyond state mandates.
The only exception to this is if the superintendent or district officials determine the student can complete the additional requirements by the end of senior year.
When did ethnic studies become a graduation requirement?
Passed into law in 2021, California Assembly Bill AB 101 established ethnic studies as a high school graduation requirement in the state. The bill mandates students take an ethnic studies course to graduate, which begins with the graduating class of 2029-30.
The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum was adopted by the State Board of Education in March 2021. It will focus on the traditional ethnic studies first established in California higher education, which has focused on several ethnicities in the United States: Black, Chicano and Latino, Native American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander studies.
The goal of the ethnic studies course is for students to learn of the histories, cultures, struggles and contributions to American society of these historically marginalized peoples.
Starting in June 2023, the district hosted a monthly community guidance council to craft the curriculum. This council comprises representatives from the NAACP, the school board, and students.
Modesto City Schools will begin a pilot class in January, with full implementation to meet state requirements by fall semester. The district will also add aspects of Mexican, Hmong and Vietnamese cultural history as well.
This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 2:00 PM.
