Letter: More to the A-G mandates story

I wanted to point out to you that either by choice or incompetence you didn’t quite tell the whole story regarding the SBHS board of trustees getting ready to adopt the A-G requirements as the “graduation requirements”, and the “default” track that all students would be placed on.  
You neglected to mention that the board is considering that there would be two graduation tracks. One would be an A-G (these are the requirements for a student to attend a CSU out of high school) graduation track, and as has been needed for too long, a career or community college/vocational school track.  As it is now all students have to meet the same 220-unit graduation requirement.  If you meet the SBHS graduation requirements you will be close to being A-G qualified, and can easily add the extra courses needed to meet those requirements in your four years, but there is no option for a student who does not desire to go to college, and desires to go into the work force, go to a community college, or a vocational school out of high school to really be allowed to take more classes in their “major”. The new graduation track would encourage kids to take a three-year path in a specific vocational area. Let’s take someone who was interested in designing video games; they could take three years of computer classes at San Benito High School, or three years of welding, auto, culinary arts, etc. They would graduate community college and vocational school eligible, and in some cases could have a certificate to go directly into the work force. More importantly they would be more motivated to succeed in school since they would be allowed to take classes that interest them or heaven forbid they have a talent for. Now a student who is a skilled welder, for example, is made to feel like a second-class citizen because they are not going straight to a four-year college out of high school. They are being forced to take courses that do not interest them, and in many cases are totally useless for what they want to do. The other beauty of the two-track system is that the ninth-grade year is pretty much the same for both, so a student could opt in or out of a track as a 10th grader. This is much more choice than they have now when basically if you are not in the correct classes in sixth grade you are not able to access the highest levels of the high school curriculum. I am disappointed that you did not mention this in your article. The board and administration could be taking one of the most important steps for the future of San Benito county and all students at San Benito High School, and it’s important that the community know the whole story.
Randy Logue, Hollister