The Berkeley Unified School District has reversed its decision requiring incoming high schoolers to take physical education instead of a second elective. Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel announced that, per state guidance, the implementation of the PE requirement would be delayed until the 2026-27 school year. This decision came after community concerns regarding compliance with state mandates for physical education, which requires all students to fulfill P.E. credits to graduate. BUSD will proceed with previous plans for student electives for the upcoming academic year instead.
According to a recent CDE audit, BUSD is out of compliance with California's public school P.E. requirement, causing the district to scramble to revise elective requests.
Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel notified 8th-grade families that the California Department of Education had allowed the district to postpone its implementation of the P.E. requirement until the 2026-27 school year.
Like many of you, we recognized the challenges with implementing this change so quickly, including budget, staffing and hiring implications as well as unintended inequities.
Berkeley High School will use course preference information collected in January and February to enroll BHS students in two elective courses next year, as previously planned.
#berkeley-unified-school-district #physical-education #school-curriculum #student-electives #california-education-policy
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