JAY — Regional School Unit 73 board of directors voted unanimously Thursday evening to replace health and physical education with financial and digital literacy as requirements for adult learners to graduate.

Spruce Mountain Adult Education Director Robyn Raymond made the request. She said instructors have developed curriculum around health awareness through a financial literacy lens that includes:

• How to create nutritious, affordable meals.

• Calculating the cost per serving.

• Understanding health insurance premiums and co-pays, etc.

“The health piece will not be lost but rather shifted to include more relevance to our learners’ everyday lives so they can feel more confident living independently and making well-informed decisions about their finances,” Raymond said.

Physical education has been a tricky course to navigate with requirements met through flexible, independent projects such as journaling daily walks or morning yoga routines, she noted.

“Exercise is not safe or inclusive for all of my learners and I do want to be mindful of that,” Raymond said. “Utilizing a computer and navigating the internet in a safe, responsible way seems to make more sense when our vision and mission is to “prepare citizens for the 21st century.

“Thankfully we will be receiving funding to pilot some additional digital literacy classes which will assist our adult students in learning how to do online banking, navigate online job application systems, write well-crafted emails and stay in touch digitally with friends and family,” Raymond said.

Knowing that the health aspect wouldn’t be lost was a nice aspect, Director Patrick Milligan said. “What you are gaining is a very broad knowledge across many spectrums and so many other independent living activities,” he noted. “I am really excited for that.”

There are no state requirements for health and physical education, Raymond said when asked.

Director Joel Pike verified that the request was only for adult learners and wouldn’t apply to high school students. He also asked about the target date for making the change effective.

“I would like to start with the fall semester,” Raymond said. “I wanted to give you enough lead time in case you didn’t want to make a decision tonight.”

In other business, the first reading of a new policy regarding visitors to the schools was approved.

Director Andrew Sylvester asked if the section stating “all visitors must call the school ahead of time” could be interpreted to include texting and/or emailing.

Those are general guidelines, Joel Pike said. “A lot of policies include administrative procedures, each building is supposed to come up with its own,” he said. This new policy for Spruce Mountain schools came out before the school shooting in Texas and the threats made in Spruce schools last week, he added.

“It’s mind boggling to see that kind of stuff happening here,” Director D. Robin Beck said. She noted staff and administrators did a fantastic job during the two events. “We really appreciate that,” she added.

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