OLYMPIA, WA  — The Washington State Board of Education approved agency request legislation on Sept. 10 to comprehensively update Washington's high school graduation requirements. The request will be presented to the Legislature for consideration during the 2027 legislative session. 

The approval marks a major milestone in nearly two years of community engagement through FutureReady, the Board's initiative to update graduation requirements so every student graduates ready for success in postsecondary education, gainful employment, and civic engagement, and equipped with the skills to be a lifelong learner. 

“We thank the dozens of organizations and hundreds of people across Washington who contributed their voice to this work,” said Mary Fertakis, Chair of the State Board of Education. “Our proposal reflects what we heard from communities across the state and represents an important step toward ensuring Washington’s graduation requirements prepare students for the world they are entering after high school.” 

The proposal is designed to maintain strong academic expectations while giving students more flexibility to connect their education to their interests and plans after high school. The proposal also incorporates skills students, families, educators, employers, and community members identified as important to success, including financial education, technology and media literacy, life skills, mental health and well-being, and civic knowledge. 

The FutureReady proposal includes changes that require action by the Legislature and changes that fall within the State Board's existing rulemaking authority. The Board approved the legislative proposal on Sept. 10 and will continue developing the rule changes through a public rulemaking process this fall. 

What’s included in the legislative proposal 

The agency request legislation approved by the Board would make several changes to state law. Highlighted changes in the proposal include, but are not limited to: 

• More flexibility for students: Remove the current graduation pathway requirement. The Board intends to pair this change, through rulemaking, with an expanded set of default courses in Personalized Pathway Requirements (PPRs) designed to prepare students for a wide range of postsecondary goals. Individual students would be able to substitute these default courses with ones that better support their postsecondary plans, in consultation with educators and families. 

• Expanded opportunities for financial education and life skills instruction: Create model curriculum for a one-credit Personalized Pathway Requirement focused on financial education, High School and Beyond Plan instruction, and life skills. The Board intends to add the course to PPRs through rulemaking. 

• Required technology and media literacy access: Require districts to provide access to technology and media literacy learning standards at all grade levels in high school, integrated across core subject areas. 

• Expanded access to career and technical education: Require districts to offer at least one CTE course sequence that leads to a credential, postsecondary credit, apprenticeship, work in a related field, or otherwise meets requirements in law.    

• Establish consistent statewide policies for how students can earn competency-based credit, PE excusals tied to athletic participation outside school, and obtaining language credits as a multilingual learner. 

What the Board intends to address through rulemaking

The Board will develop draft rules in fall 2026 and is expected to consider draft rule language during its October 2026 meeting. The Board will share additional information about the rulemaking process and opportunities for public comment as it becomes available. 

The Board intends to address the following through rulemaking: 

• Rebalance core requirements and Personalized Pathway Requirements to create greater student personalization, while ensuring alignment with multiple postsecondary outcomes by creating a default sequence of courses that support student exploration and prepares them for entry into a range of further education options or work. 

• Strengthen math expectations by adding a senior year quantitative reasoning course to default PPRs and setting the third credit of math to Algebra 2 or Integrated Math III. For additional flexibility, a student may also satisfy the third math credit by taking Data Science, Statistics, or Financial Algebra. 

• Updated health and physical education requirements that give students more opportunities to receive health education while providing greater flexibility in how they meet requirements. 

• Expanded opportunities for students to earn credit through CTE courses that demonstrate proficiency in both CTE and academic standards. 

Resources 

For more information about the FutureReady proposal and its individual elements, visit the Board’s FutureReady webpage.  

For answers to frequently asked questions about the proposal and the process, visit the Board’s FutureReady FAQ webpage. 

The Board will hold a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. to give reporters an opportunity to hear directly from Board members and staff about the FutureReady proposal, the community engagement process that shaped it, and what the proposed changes could mean for Washington’s students and schools. 

Register for the virtual press conference 

Participants will include: 

• Mary Fertakis, Chair, Washington State Board of Education  

• Brooke Brown, Washington State Board of Education member  

• Riley Acheson, Student member, Washington State Board of Education  

• Randy Spaulding, Executive Director, Washington State Board of Education 

• Alissa Muller, Senior Director of Policy, Washington State Board of Education 

Individual Interviews 

Following the press conference, Board staff will be available for individual interviews from 3:15–4:30 p.m. Reporters interested in an individual interview should complete both steps below: 

• Register for the virtual press conference 

• Sign up for an individual timeslot. 

Interviews will be scheduled in 15-minute windows on a first-come, first-served basis. If you would like to request a time outside of the available slots, please contact Colton Kaltenfeldt, SBE communications manager. 

Please Direct All Media Inquiries To: 

Colton Kaltenfeldt, Communications Manager