Financial Literacy Requirement Mulled

Financial literacy is more important now during these tough economic times than ever before, which is one reason high school students should be mandated to pass a course on it in order to graduate, officials said.

The Board of Education is being asked to approve the addition of a half-credit financial literacy course as part of 's graduation requirements. Nearly all board members appeared to support the request.

"The sooner you can do it the better," education board member John Vorous said during a meeting earlier this week.

Thirteen states in the country, including New York and New Jersey, already have such a requirement in place, according to Newtown High School educators who were at the meeting to make their pitch.

The only question board members had with the request was whether the school could provide enough classes for all graduating high school students to take the course at no additional cost to the district, a proposition Jay Daly, the Newtown High School business and finance technology department chair, said was possible.

The class would be offered to seniors first, but juniors and sophomores would be allowed in space permitting.

"We will consolidate courses that aren't at capacity," he said, adding that there was a possibility the school may forgo sections of other electives. "We will likely absorb students....we probably will not be able to enroll a course in Accounting II."

Board members Laura Roche and Bill Hart questioned whether at some point in the future, additional staff might be needed with Hart requesting additional information on how the school intended to fulfill the requirement.

Hart said he supported the concept of educating students on financial literacy but needed to be convinced there would be no additional cost to the district.

"Let's do it with our eyes opened," he said.

The course, which goes over making financial decisions and setting goals, has been offered to students as a half-credit in business development since 2006, Daly said. The business teaching team surveyed parents and found that 96-percent of parents believe financial literacy will benefit their children, educators said.

Hart additionally asked whether educators could narrow the survey results to students who took the course to determine its value to them.