Students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School will be able to take one fewer required class to meet graduation requirements.
The District 233 school board voted Tuesday, Dec. 17, to keep the 22 units of credit necessary to graduate. H-F has mandated courses for 18.5 units. It agreed to reduce the mandatory social studies requirement from 3.5 units of credit to 3 units. Dropping that .5-unit requirement is meant to give students more options for electives.
The change takes effect with the Class of 2026, today’s juniors.
Superintendent Scott Wakeley said with a 3-unit requirement H-F is still expecting more of its students than the 2 units required by the state.
Over the course of four years at H-F, students will complete 18 units of required coursework:
- 4 units of English
- 4 units of physical education/ health/ driver education
- 3 units of mathematics
- 3 units of science
- 3 units of social science
- 1 unit of fine arts, world language or Career and Technical Education.
The social science mandate includes a unit of U.S. history and a unit of world history, a 9-week course of consumer economics that H-F offers in its economics course, and civics was added as a half-unit.
H-F has required students to take an economics course, but Director of Curriculum Jen Hester said students are taking a “consumer economics course to fulfill that requirement.”
Students with an interest in economics can still take the year-long course as an elective. H-F also offers Advanced Placement economics.
Hester said in 2028, the state will institute a new requirement for world language. All students will be required to fulfill two credits.
Hester said the change also gives students more time in their schedules for fulfilling dual credit classes. It also can be helpful for students working toward endorsements in Career and Technical Education because they often have work-based learning requirements.
