Your children may soon be required to take this class at Puyallup’s high schools
Puyallup’s class of 2026 and those that follow have a new graduation requirement.
The Puyallup School Board approved making a semester-long financial literacy course a graduation requirement for those students at its March 21 meeting.
The course will discuss topics such as managing a bank account and establishing credit, school district spokesperson Sarah Gillispie told The News Tribune. High school students would take the financial literacy course during their junior or senior year.
“It really adds to their success when they graduate and they have those skills,” Maddie Names, school board vice president, said during the meeting. “Providing them the opportunity sooner rather than later is paramount to their success.”
Students need 24 credits to graduate. The financial literacy course will be 0.5 credits and is subtracted from the number of elective course credits. Other credit requirements for courses such as English, math and science will remain the same.
“There’s not a course offering going away,” Gillispie said.
The school district currently offers a year-long course for 10th-12th graders at Puyallup Digital Learning as well as Emerald Ridge, Puyallup, Rogers and Walker high schools. The course covers financial literacy, but is not a graduation requirement.
An average of about 23 percent of high school students have taken the course before graduation, according to a presentation from school staff during the meeting.
School board member Michael Keaton said during the meeting that it is critical that the school district prepares its students for when they enter “the real world.” Making the course a graduation requirement will benefit students, he said.
School board member Turan Kayaoglu asked during the meeting if students who are not part of the district’s advisory board got to offer their opinion on making this course a graduation requirement.
“The actual class of 2026 — we haven’t talked to students at that grade level specifically about that,” Maija Delaquin, director of instructional leadership, said during the meeting. “We will be working with students as we’re designing that semester-long course.”
The school board expressed interest in making the course a requirement during the Jan. 10 meeting. Although this course is currently not a graduation requirement statewide, Gillispie said the state is looking into it.
“Puyallup School District is ahead of the curve,” Gillispie said.
