Lisa Conley
Round Table editor

In order to graduate from a Frederick County public high school, a student is required to have 25 academic credits; four math, four English, three social studies, three science, one physical education/health, one fine arts and one technology education along with eight other additional credits.

 Initially, the FCPS graduation requirements seem like they give students a good deal of freedom. Sure, students are required to have a certain number of credits for each subject, but at least they get to choose what classes they take within those subjects, right?

 Wrong. FCPS mandates several classes that a student must complete within each subject. For example, a student needs to take Algebra and Geometry as two of their four math credits. As for social studies, students must take Government, Modern World History and American Studies 2, giving them a limited opportunity to take other social studies classes that might interest them.

 According to FCPS, the purpose of establishing these requirements is to allow students to “grow intellectually, personally and socially.” However, if students are forced to take classes that hold no relevance to what they want to do in the future or better yet, classes that don’t even interest them, then how is that helping them to grow?

 It’s understandable that there has to be some guidelines to prevent students from exclusively taking “easy” elective courses throughout their high school career, but it should not be FCPS’ right to determine a student’s individual classes to any degree.

 If students were given the freedom to choose their classes with little interference from FCPS, it would give those who know what they want to do in the future an opportunity to gain skills related to that field. For students who don’t yet know what they want to do, it would allow them to experiment and discover their areas of interest.

 Concerns might be raised for the students who require a more direct approach when it comes to their education, the students who need to be told what classes to take. For those students, some might argue, abolishing the current FCPS requirements system will be detrimental.

 Then again, if those students have never had the opportunity to create their own schedule free from FCPS mandated classes, how do they know that they are unable to do so?  A new system in which FCPS does not require specific classes would give students a chance to see for themselves whether or not they need more assistance when it comes to scheduling.

 If it turns out that, yes, a student does still need help, guidance counselors should be made aware of that and work more closely with those students. On the other hand, if students discover that they have never actually needed as much guidance as they were given, then they have gained the ability to organize their own schedule which is a valuable skill to have in life.  

 Changing a well-established system can not be expected to happen overnight, but making small changes to the FCPS graduation requirements system over the next several years would allow an easier transition for everyone involved and by the end, a system that is truly beneficial to all.