Cambridge students starting with the Class of 2028 will be required to take a new “Health II” class to graduate, the Cambridge School Committee voted Tuesday.
The district initially recommended implementing a required course for the Class of 2027, but committee members voted 6-1 to implement a required course due to concerns that the district currently lacks the personnel to make immediate changes. It was decided to postpone it for one year.
The two-semester course will begin next fall, but will be elective for current high school students.
The new health course was first proposed in a committee motion in February 2022, which cited students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School who had spoken out about “troubling levels of sexual harassment and assault”. Ta. The motion also noted support from students, educators, and committee members calling for stronger health education on consent and anti-discrimination.
Jeanne Alailima, a third-year student at CRLS and a student representative on the School Committee, said she has never come across a course that covers topics like overdose prevention, media literacy, and digital citizenship.
Alailima said it was important that the course be mandatory.
“The people who need it the most aren't necessarily going to seek it out,” Alailima says. “Especially in the culture we have created at his CRLS, people often get overwhelmed with AP courses without the resources they need.”
“It may not be what people want, but I think it's what they really need,” she added.
But CRLS freshman Imogene Wu opposed the motion at the meeting, pointing out that students take a four-year “robust” and “well-taught” health course starting in sixth grade.
“It doesn’t seem like we’re covering new material in this class,” she said.
Vice President Caroline M. Hunter expressed concern that CRLS does not have enough staff to offer courses to all interested students, much less all students.
“When we change graduation requirements, the ripple effects are longer than we expect,” she said. “She has four years to change graduation requirements. Otherwise, this issue could be staggering.”
CRLS Principal Damon Smith said it would take three full-time educators to teach the course to all grades at once. Superintendent Victoria L. Greer said the district is currently budgeting for one full-time educator.
Commissioner Richard Harding Jr. was the only vote against the motion, saying he needed to see the curriculum before making a decision.
“If you know what's in it, you'll feel more confident passing it,” he says.
Harding said further discussion “will lead to a better position to vote for or against this particular change.”
But student course selection for the 2024-25 school year has already begun, and committee member Rachel B. Weinstein said the School Committee needs to take action.
“We can't wait,” Weinstein said.
—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Emily T. Schwartz can be reached at emily.schwartz@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @EmilySchwartz37.
