The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is proposing a new version of the Missouri School Improvement Program that could impact technical and career high school courses.

Deputy Commissioner Ron Lankford says the new version of the Missouri School Improvement Program will enable students to meet high school graduation requirements, and school districts to have the control of making their own local decisions.

 Lankford says one thing school districts are not planning on doing is cutting career and technical courses in high schools.

“A minimum offering in mathematics specifying certain courses that had to be in that minimum offering,” he says. “Well now it doesn’t specify six, it takes three to graduate. It doesn’t specify six so the assumption is that we want quality programs that lead to graduation,” he says.

Although the technical courses are offered, they are not required for graduation. “It depends on the school district whether or not they would have a career technical education program that included agriculture,” Lankford says.

He says the new version of the Missouri School Improvement Program will specify that by recognizing the economic realities of the times and that high schools are meeting high quality standards throughout the state.

AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (1:00)