On April 11th, 2025, the official graduation requirements for the class of 2029 were released. There was a rumor in the school that the class would no longer have to take swimming as a requirement. Some students think that it is unfair.
Kelsey M. ’27 says, “I think it should be for all classes…It doesn’t make sense that all of us have to do it when the class that’s coming in doesn’t have to. If we’re all graduating in 2026 or later I feel like it should apply to all those classes too.”
Not only are some students upset about this decision, but teachers are too. Mrs. Deirdre Gibalski shares her thoughts; “All of us LPS swimming teachers are extremely disappointed by this decision. We felt like this class was invaluable to the school. It promoted safety, confidence, lifelong physical health, and well-being. It was just a huge shock and disappointment. We really felt like it was something that really set our school apart from districts that are around us.”
Swimming is no longer required. However the required credits stayed the same 1.5 credits. Similarly Social Studies still requires the same 3.5 credits but Economics is no longer considered a requirement for social studies. Both Mathematics and Science have added 1 more credit or one more year.
There is also a new requirement category called Personal Financial Literacy. Incoming students will have to take a semester of Economics and/or the personal financial literacy class.
Currently all the students that go to HHS need 22 credits to graduate, but incoming students need 24 credits. Despite there being more credits to graduate, students will only need 7 elective credits instead of 7.5 credits.