Dripping Springs ISD Board tables health requirement for graduation

DRIPPING SPRINGS — At its Oct. 23 meeting, the Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees decided to postpone any action on a requirement for a health course for high school students to graduate.

The School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) meets throughout the year to assist the district in ensuring that local community values and health issues are reflected in DSISD’s health education instruction.

As part of the district’s coordinated school health model, the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC), which advises the district on its health education instruction, recommended last week that the board add a local high school health course as a graduation requirement beginning with the graduating class of 2028.

The structure of the course, as recommended by the committee, would include a health course for two semesters for 0.5 credits each. It would be designed to motivate and assist students in maintaining and improving their health, prevent disease, reduce health-related risk behavior and navigate the healthcare system — students who complete the Principles of Health Science course would satisfy the local credit requirement for health.

“We need to empower them as much as we can to help them move forward so that they truly are prepared for what is to come and sadly, as adults, we know there is a lot coming their way,” said Kami Kilgore, a registered nurse who is a member of SHAC. “We do feel it’s the job of the school district to create best opportunities for [students] to develop and sustain health-promoting behaviors throughout their lives.”

One of the concerns that SHAC chair Justin Hudman addressed in his presentation was whether it’s the right time to bring forth a recommendation for a local high school health course or if it would be better to wait until after strategic planning.

“It’s always the right time to start teaching about health and requiring kids to get that opportunity to learn. I know I, for one, was shocked when I found out that it was an option. I guess I am just that old, I remember when it was required,” he said, adding that this type of course would help students learn how to manage stress and mental health issues.

Losing an elective would be a component of implementing this course. However, Hudman said that juniors and seniors would not technically be losing an elective because they may already have an “off period” if they have met credit requirements early.

“I would say some of our highest achievers need to go take a required health course and learn how to ease their mind a little bit because I think we all run on high far too long and often wonder why we are burnt out," Hudman said. “So, giving these kids that option really will benefit them in the long-run and throughout their lives to better manage their personal health."

"Many of Dripping Springs' students in their junior and senior year have off periods, so we technically are not losing an elective for them,” he explained. “These are kids that have already done the required curriculum and have time to take off. I’d rather have them in the classroom learning about health than taking off; I’m sure they would disagree with me, but that’s why I’m the parent [and] not the student.”

Trustee Olivia Barnard asked if there was a particular type of students that have these off periods in high school.

“It basically can be any student who has taken high school courses in middle school for high school credit … There is plenty of room and space in their schedule, because there are 32 credit options if you went all through high school and they hit that 26 by their junior year,” said Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Innovation Dr. Karen Kidd. “They are looking for, ‘I don’t want to get to 32. I’m just going to take an off period.’ They can do that in their junior and senior year. You can essentially have a full year of freedom, if you will, even above and beyond the seven electives that are already required.”

Another trustee, Tricia Quintero, questioned students losing an off period — especially for those who use that time to go to work and the requirement would require them to be at school longer.

Dr. Kidd responded that the district is “innovative in our approach” and oftentimes, when students have to leave school early, there are options that the district could look at, including summer programming, for the health credit.

Several trustees across the board were concerned about the course, as stated by the committee’s recommendation, being for a full year or two semesters long.

“The community and parents really want life skills and this robust of a health curriculum is part of that. But when they think about a full year and they think about the requirement, it caused me to think a little bit deeper about the number of credits and the available time [students] have,” Barnard said. “We also have to look at every student, whether they are in performing arts or they’re leaving school earlier for work, we really have to think about every student [and] what their year looks like [and] obligations that they have.”

While the board ultimately tabled action on SHAC’s recommendation for a local high school health course as a graduation requirement, the trustees unanimously approved the human sexuality instructional curriculum. For the 2023-24 school year, the district would implement the G-W Human Sexuality Curriculum during the late spring for 7th grade students; and for the 2024-25 school year and beyond, the district would implement the G-W Human Sexuality Curriculum in the 7th/8th grade health course, according to SHAC’s recommendations.

“This is an opt-in opportunity or active consent curriculum. We can not express that enough to parents that are listening to this: you are in the driver’s seat. You will decide whether or not your child takes the curriculum,” said Hudman.

The full DSISD Board of Trustees meeting held on Oct. 23, and previous meeting recordings, can be found at www.dsisdtx.us/Page/3273.