Mat-Su School Board to vote on new curriculum requirement for high school students

PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) - At the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District School Board’s regular meeting on Sept. 21, member Jim Hart read aloud a resolution that would require high school students to take a logic curriculum to meet graduation requirements.

The proposed two-semester course would be aimed at teaching sound decision-making, informational processing, and problem-solving to curb deception and misinformation that students are confronted with.

“The best BS filter there is, is logic,” Hart said during the Sept. 21 meeting. “It’s also an excellent way to help with problem-solving skills and other routine tasks.”

As proposed, the resolution would require high school students in the Mat-Su to take two semesters of logic. The first semester would occur in ninth grade as an introductory course with the second semester in 11th grade that would focus on Socratic logic. However, parents like Jessica Darrington are pushing back on the move, saying it’s redundant and would overload their children.

“Things are already in place to teach logic to these kids and then you’re trying to create a new courseload, in addition to an already crammed courseload,” Darrington said. “I have a problem with that.”

Darrington currently has two kids in the district, and her oldest will enter high school in two years. She’s concerned her children will have to give up elective classes in order to fit the logic courses into their academia.

“My son is in band — he’s in advanced band — in the seventh grade and he loves it,” Darrington stated. “I’m afraid that with this course he’s not going to be given that opportunity.”

The resolution is on the agenda at the next regular meeting, scheduled Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.

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