Tuesday, March 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- The long debate over the number of high school credits needed to graduate is not over.
And a new wrinkle may be added.
Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said Monday her upcoming "educational reform" bill will reduce the required credits from 22 1/2 to 20 1/2.
She also wants to start a credit system for students in junior high school.
The state Board of Education, after nearly four years of hearings and discussion, voted 6-5 last week to retain the present number.
"I think right now it's become so political that (the Legislature) is the proper place to take a look at it since it was that close on the vote," said Giunchigliani, a special-education teacher in the Clark County School District. "I think they need to start listening to the public and take a look at the standards and not get hung up on the actual number of credits.
"This will create the forum to properly debate it in the public spectrum."
But David Sheffield, president of the state education board, said the issue of credits should be up to the board, which took testimony over an extended time.
"That's why we were elected. How would she (Giunchigliani) like it if we started debating the state's budget?" Sheffield said. "We don't feel graduation credits should go down."
The education board requires 14 credits in core subjects such as English, math and science and 8 1/2 credits in elective courses.
Giunchigliani's bill does not specify what should be included in the core subjects, but that could be added after the debate.
"The key to this is that once a kid flunks one credit in freshman year, they basically have no opportunity to graduate," Giunchigliani said. She noted Clark County requires 23 1/2 credits to graduate. Students take six courses a year for a total of 24 in four years.
"If you blow one full credit you are not going to be able to graduate," Giunchigliani said. "So you set a kid up for a potential dropout," she said, adding the student may feel he or she may never be able to make up the flunked class. "They are on a downhill scale from their first year of schooling."
Sheffield, of Elko, said other districts are requiring students to take seven or eight courses a year, giving them 28-32 credits after four years of high school, well above the state requirement.
He said it would cost an additional $23 million for Clark County to gear up to seven courses a year. "We want to help Clark County but we don't feel dropping graduation credits should be done."
Both Giunchigliani and Sheffield agreed that the rigor of the courses must be upgraded. The education board has also approved a plan to toughen the high school exit examination and is requesting $25 million to help those who can't keep up in school and are potential dropouts.
Giunchigliani's bill, expected to be ready for introduction later this month, establishes a credit structure for middle schools so there is a standard for graduating and entering high school.
"Now, basically kids can flunk all three years of middle school and go on to high school and that sends the wrong message," Giunchigliani said. "We have to be cautious here and not make the same mistake," she added, referring to the increase in high school credits without toughening the courses.
"The curriculum needs to be enhanced as you create a credit structure."
Giunchigliani's bill goes counter to the suggestion of the Nevada State Education Association, where she formerly served as president. The association, a union of schoolteachers, opposed any reduction in credits. But Giunchigliani said that when she was president, it opposed increasing the number of credits.
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