BESE Agrees To Do Away With Some School Mandates

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has agreed to shrink the number of mandates required of local school districts, despite concerns it would let school districts eliminate school counselors and librarians to cut costs.

Superintendent of Education John White proposed changes to 150 different sections of policies governing school systems. That included getting rid of the statewide school calendar and changing physical education standards to allow credit for extracurricular activities like cheerleading and participation in marching band.

BESE agreed to the changes Wednesday, after making modest adjustments.

As approved, schools can sidestep requirements for how many counselors and librarians they must have, raising complaints that it will let schools do away with the jobs altogether.

White says the changes will let educators decide what they need at their schools.