Many students were left feeling unenthusiastic going into the 2024-2025 school year when Rangeview High School officially mandated that all grade levels including seniors must have at least 5 courses on their schedule. This is necessary in order to be legally considered a full time student for the incoming school year. It was also decided that schedules would be pre determined, and could not be altered when the school year began. Students were advised to pick their classes wisely, but some were left dissatisfied with their schedules having no way out.
“They gave me way too many classes as a senior- I have 20 [out of 22] credits, why am I taking 6 classes?” said Senior Faith Schmeling.
This occurrence took place for many students, particularly seniors, taking more classes than they needed. This new mandate is frustrating for students who spent the majority of their time in high school taking accelerated classes, as they had planned to enter their senior year with all the necessary credits for graduation. This excludes the courses that are required for all 4 years, such as English & Math equivalents. Many students feel like they over extended themselves in previous years, giving up off periods and free time to take classes that would be required for the following year, as they are now put in the same classes as students who still require miscellaneous credits to graduate.
“About seniors who have 6 classes.. if you don’t need it, you did have the option, and do still up until September 6th, to drop the class with paperwork,” says Rangeview Counselor, Ann Atencio.
She also said, “I know that it was a challenge, especially because we have a new counselor who just started this week, so those students had to go through a different counselor- two of our counselors from last year left, so I do feel for that group of students”.
Neighboring school districts already have this rule implemented, as Colorado Law requires students to have 5 courses on their schedule in order to legally qualify as full time students, or obtain eligibility for athletics.
“Last year we did have some students that panicked because they realized they were playing a sport, and they’re not eligible because they do not have enough classes, and now it’s 4th quarter, so this is a preventative measure. Also, colleges want to see that you didn’t slack off; they want to see that you’re continuing to challenge yourself through graduation day,” Atencio stated as well.
Prior to this update, as long as seniors obtained all of the necessary credits for graduation, they would only need to take english and math crediting courses for the full year. This small scheduling block encouraged poor attendance, as many seniors would decide to just not show up for class, because they only had two hours of school for the day. By requiring more courses, these students are less inclined to ditch class for a full day.
You may find yourself asking, “what is the real importance of having full time students outside of athletics?”
In order for a school to be funded properly by state and/or local sources, like tax revenue, all students must be full time, and rates of such are affected on days like October Count.
As stated in the Denver Public Schools official website, “October Count is the official student membership headcount for all Colorado public school districts. When students are enrolled, scheduled and in attendance as of the official count day, the district receives an average of $8,400 in per pupil operating revenue. This submission accounts for 85% of the district’s funding.”
Altogether, mandating that all students are registered full time should be a welcome improvement to the Rangeview community for funding, athletics, and the general appearance of transcripts for colleges and universities.
