FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – For graduating seniors, new graduation requirements went into effect this past spring.

The State of Indiana implemented three main criteria that students must satisfy in order to graduate. Students must earn enough credits, learn and demonstrate employability skills, and exhibit postsecondary-ready competencies.

WANE 15 spoke with each school district in Allen County to remind seniors and their parents of the recent changes.

“As we continue to understand the recent changes to the Indiana graduation requirements and anticipate further guidance from the DOE, we support changes that make the requirements more flexible and relevant for students. The increased focus on career pathways and vocational opportunities will be a welcomed change for many of our families.  While we believe that the intent of the new career coaching and meeting requirements is positive, we are interested to see how this will look in practice to be sure that we are providing high-quality and meaningful opportunities for our students.”

Bill Toler – Assistant Superintendent of Northwest Allen County Schools

Fort Wayne Community Schools graduation requirements have not changed.

WANE 15 spoke with officials at East Allen County Schools about if the new requirements will make things difficult for the district. In short, the district said the new graduation requirements will give students more opportunities and experiences.

Moving to Southwest Allen County Schools, officials believe that the new requirements won’t make it harder for students to receive their diploma.

“They’ll naturally progress through high school and they’ll hit multiple box three competencies with their test scores, academic honors,” said Lindsay Lackland Assistant Principal, Homestead High School. “For other students, especially students that might not excel academically, it could create an additional challenge to graduation in which they will have to start navigating different coursework in like CTE concentrators and probably work closely with the counselor to try to navigate what their pathway would be.”

Lackland mentioned that Southwest Allen has been aware of the new requirements for almost three years.

“Pathways was actually introduced in trade schools, we’ve adopted in for the past three years, and just became the requirement for the class of 2023,” Lackland said.

“We have been seeing how they worked with our students and trying to find the best fit all along and we’ll continue to do that to create opportunities and partnerships and that’s kind of why our school started in the local 166 was to play in new pathways and give them different options as well,” Lackland added.

All four Allen County school districts implemented these new requirements for their 2023 graduating classes.