SECTION 74.72. Minimum High School Program

(a) Credits. A student must earn at least 22 credits to complete the Minimum High School Program.

(b) Core courses. A student must demonstrate proficiency in the following.

(1) English language arts--four credits. Three of the credits must consist of English I, II, and III. (Students with limited English proficiency who are at the beginning or intermediate level of English language proficiency, as defined by §74.4(d) of this title (relating to English Language Proficiency Standards), may satisfy the English I and English II graduation requirements by successfully completing English I for Speakers of Other Languages and English II for Speakers of Other Languages.) The final credit may be selected from one full credit or a combination of two half credits from the following courses:

(A) English IV;

(B) Research and Technical Writing;

(C) Creative Writing;

(D) Practical Writing Skills;

(E) Literary Genres;

(F) Business English;

(G) Journalism;

(H) Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition; and

(I) AP English Literature and Composition.

(2) Mathematics--three credits. Two of the credits must consist of Algebra I and Geometry.

(A) The final credit may be Algebra II. A student may not combine a half credit of Algebra II with a half credit from another mathematics course to satisfy the final mathematics credit requirement.

(B) The final credit may be selected from one full credit or a combination of two half credits from the following courses:

(i) Precalculus;

(ii) Mathematical Models with Applications;

(iii) Independent Study in Mathematics;

(iv) Advanced Quantitative Reasoning;

(v) Algebraic Reasoning;

(vi) Statistics;

(vii) AP Statistics;

(viii) AP Calculus AB;

(ix) AP Calculus BC;

(x) AP Computer Science;

(xi) International Baccalaureate (IB) Mathematical Studies Standard Level;

(xii) IB Mathematics Standard Level;

(xiii) IB Mathematics Higher Level;

(xiv) IB Further Mathematics Standard Level;

(xv) Mathematical Applications in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources;

(xvi) Engineering Mathematics;

(xvii) Statistics and Risk Management;

(xviii) Robotics Programming and Design;

(xix) Discrete Mathematics for Problem Solving;

(xx) Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science; and

(xxi) Digital Electronics.

(3) Science--two credits. The credits must consist of Biology and Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC). A student may substitute a chemistry credit (Chemistry, AP Chemistry, or IB Chemistry), or a physics credit (Physics, Principles of Technology, AP Physics, or IB Physics) and then must use the second of these two courses as the academic elective credit identified in subsection (b)(5) of this section.

(4) Social studies--three credits. Two of the credits must consist of United States History Studies Since 1877 (one credit), United States Government (one-half credit), and Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits (one-half credit). The final credit may be selected from the following courses:

(A) World History Studies; and

(B) World Geography Studies.

(5) Academic elective--one credit. The credit must be selected from World History Studies, World Geography Studies, or science course(s) approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE) for science credit as found in Chapter 112 of this title (relating to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science). If a student elects to replace IPC with either Chemistry or Physics as described in subsection (b)(3) of this section, the academic elective must be the other of these two science courses. A student may not combine a half credit of either World History Studies or World Geography Studies with a half credit from another academic elective course to satisfy the academic elective credit requirement.

(6) Physical education--one credit.

(A) The required credit may be selected from any combination of the following one-half to one credit courses:

(i) Foundations of Personal Fitness;

(ii) Adventure/Outdoor Education;

(iii) Aerobic Activities; and

(iv) Team or Individual Sports.

(B) In accordance with local district policy, credit for any of the courses listed in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph may be earned through participation in the following activities:

(i) Athletics;

(ii) Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC); and

(iii) appropriate private or commercially sponsored physical activity programs conducted on or off campus. The district must apply to the commissioner of education for approval of such programs, which may be substituted for state graduation credit in physical education. Such approval may be granted under the following conditions.

(I) Olympic-level participation and/or competition includes a minimum of 15 hours per week of highly intensive, professional, supervised training. The training facility, instructors, and the activities involved in the program must be certified by the superintendent to be of exceptional quality. Students qualifying and participating at this level may be dismissed from school one hour per day. Students dismissed may not miss any class other than physical education.

(II) Private or commercially sponsored physical activities include those certified by the superintendent to be of high quality and well supervised by appropriately trained instructors. Student participation of at least five hours per week must be required. Students certified to participate at this level may not be dismissed from any part of the regular school day.

(C) In accordance with local district policy, up to one credit for any one of the courses listed in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph may be earned through participation in any of the following activities:

(i) Drill Team;

(ii) Marching Band; and

(iii) Cheerleading.

(D) All substitution activities allowed in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph must include at least 100 minutes per five-day school week of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

(E) Credit may not be earned for any course identified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph more than once. No more than four substitution credits may be earned through any combination of substitutions allowed in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph.

(F) A student who is unable to participate in physical activity due to disability or illness may substitute an academic elective credit (English language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies) for the physical education credit requirement. The determination regarding a student's ability to participate in physical activity will be made by:

(i) the student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee if the student receives special education services under the Texas Education Code (TEC), Chapter 29, Subchapter A;

(ii) the committee established for the student under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 United States Code, §794) if the student does not receive special education services under the TEC, Chapter 29, Subchapter A, but is covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; or

(iii) a committee established by the school district of persons with appropriate knowledge regarding the student if each of the committees described by clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph is inapplicable. This committee shall follow the same procedures required of an ARD or a Section 504 committee.

(7) Speech--one-half credit. The credit may be selected from the following courses:

(A) Communication Applications; and

(B) Professional Communications.

(8) Fine arts--one credit. The credit may be selected from the following courses:

(A) Art, Level I, II, III, or IV;

(B) Dance, Level I, II, III, or IV;

(C) Music, Level I, II, III, or IV;

(D) Theatre, Level I, II, III, or IV;

(E) Principles and Elements of Floral Design;

(F) Digital Art and Animation; and

(G) 3-D Modeling and Animation.

(c) Elective courses--six and one-half credits. The credits must be selected from the list of courses specified in §74.71(h) of this title (relating to High School Graduation Requirements). A student may not combine a half credit of a course for which there is an end-of-course assessment with another elective credit course to satisfy an elective credit requirement.

(d) Substitutions. No substitutions are allowed in the Minimum High School Program, except as specified in this chapter.

Source Note: The provisions of this §74.72 adopted to be effective May 30, 2012, 37 TexReg 3808; amended to be effective August 25, 2013, 38 TexReg 5469; amended to be effective August 25, 2014, 39 TexReg 639; amended to be effective August 24, 2015, 40 TexReg 5329