The leaders of the Ohio House and Senate education committees are taking different stances on whether to extend changes to high-school graduation requirements to future classes.
The Ohio Board of Educationvoted Tuesday to recommend that the classes of 2019 and 2020 have the same alternative graduation options as the class of 2018. Students could choose to pass their end-of-course exams, complete a senior project, or maintain a high attendance rate, among other things.
Rep. Andrew Brenner says the House won’t adhere to the board’s recommendation and is already drafting legislation for a permanent fix to the graduation requirements. In the Senate, Education Chair Peggy Lehner says her committee prefers to hear from the board.
“We don’t have any plans to start it on our own. We’ll certainly be interested in what the House comes up with. I don’t think there’s necessarily any guarantee that we would adopt their recommendation over what would come from the school board,” Lehner said.
Brenner did not share details of the anticipated House bill because he says the draft is not complete. But he says to expect it “soon.”
