An administrator of St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES is praising the state Board of Regents' decision to allow new options for high schoolers to get graduation credits.

“It is our hope that in the future our BOCES will offer more assessments leading to this alternate pathway. But for now, this is a great first step,” said St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES assistant superintendent for instruction Ron Burke.

The regulations create graduation pathways in the humanities, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), biliteracy, career and technical education and the arts. Students pursuing the CTE pathway must pass a state-approved career and technical education pathway assessment upon completion of a state-approved approved CTE program. The St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES offers one CTE Program with an approved assessment, culinary arts.

Students are required to pass five Regents exams in high school in order to graduate – one each in English, science, math, as well as the U.S history and the global studies and geography exams. The new regulations provide for a “4+1” option that permits a student to take four Regents exams and a comparably rigorous technical, arts, or other assessment for the fifth examination required for graduation.