Governor signs bill to modernize graduation requirements

Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill known as HB 171 into law, to update graduation requirements in New Mexico for the first time in over a decade.

According to the press release from the Office of the Governor, students entering ninth grade in 2025-2026 school will be affected by HB 171. It is stated the goal of the bill is to modernize graduation requirements so that they better align with New Mexico’s workforce and high education landscape.

“High school should be about preparing students for the real world while providing more opportunities to pursue their unique interests and future careers. These changes will lead to more young New Mexicans staying engaged in school, graduating, and continuing that success in their adult lives.” said Grisham in the release.

Portales Superintendent Johnnie Cain said that this is an uphill battle the Legislative Education Study Committee has been pushing for several years now. He is enthusiastic about the opportunities the bill can provide.

“I think HB 171 is a good bill for students. It breaks away from the idea that all credits have to come from traditional classes,” Cain said.

Cain said this will give students a chance to seek out more challenging or comprehensive courses that will be more tailored to their intended career path. He said this bill will open whole new opportunities for students in subjects such as math, english and social studies.

“This bill also requires that schools offer at least a two-unit pathway concentration in language other than English, fine arts, health, military career preparation, career technical education, or community or service learning. This requirement could easily be used along with the 4th English course and math courses to create a pathway to an education leading to a student anticipated career path after high school. Of course, the District also chooses 2 credits that it believes its students would benefit from,” Cain said.

Though the bill looks promising, Cain said districts are going to have to do their research before selecting courses. He said though he doesn’t have any preference for what the district determines for required courses, he assumes Portales Municipal Schools will advocate for Driver’s Education and Financial Literacy.

Cain said he believes the board will research before deciding and will seek out community input in the Spring of 2025.

“Districts are going to have to do some work and find courses outside the normal educational box that will benefit not only college bound students, but those who might be looking to enter a trade school, a community college, or go to work straight out of high school. I think this gives schools better opportunities to build the Career Technical Education courses and pathways that many students really need,” Cain said.

The bill will give local school boards or charter school governing bodies the opportunity to add two units of their choosing, as long as it meets Public Education Department academic content and performance standards.

The updated requirements will give students more flexibility in their academic schedule while keeping the total number of credits needed to graduate to 24, according to the release.

“I’m both proud and grateful to the Governor, PED Secretary Romero, and my co-sponsors, Rep. Andrés Romero and Sen. Bill Soules for the collaboration during the last four months. Working together, we have created new graduation requirements that focus on more flexibility for students to create a path for those who want Career Technical Education classes and pathways while keeping high standards for core academic standards.” said Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, one of the chief sponsors of HB 171.

In the last 10 years high school graduation rates have increased by 6.9%.