Sequim Gazette staff

A high school graduation requirement that has students completing a “senior culminating project” is on the way out for Sequim High School seniors. The change was official as of Oct. 20 and will be in effect beginning with the class of 2015 (this year’s seniors).

Washington’s Board of Education’s “Core-24” plan added graduation requirements such as more core academic classes and reduced the number of electives students may take. But it also allowed school districts to drop the senior project requirement. Most school districts in Washington similarly have dropped the requirement, Sequim High School principal Shawn Langston said, but others have kept it.

“The impact of (the project) is huge,” Langston said. “In the second semester, students spend lots of time reworking papers and presentations.”

Langston brought the proposal to nix that requirement to the school board on Oct. 6.  Directors agreed to drop the project requirement,  and it became official  after the board’s second reading at its Oct. 20 meeting.

“It’s always at the end of the year, another hoop to jump through,” Langston said. “(Dropping it) would be well-received. What you’re doing is buying back time for seniors.”

Port Angeles’ school board agreed to cut the requirement in August.