BREWSTER — Brewster School District is one credit ahead of the game.

As state committees work out the details of “Core 24,” a plan that would raise Washington’s graduation requirements from 19 credits to 24, Brewster didn’t wait. The school district now requires 25 credits to earn a diploma, starting with this year’s freshmen.

“Kids can’t wait for the state to get ready for change,” Superintendent Aaron Chavez said. “It could be years before the state makes a decision. They need quality programs and quality instruction right now.”

School districts statewide are already opening the policy books to add a new state-mandated math credit. The class of 2013 is the first required to take three math credits for a diploma.

Although Core 24 is still years away from becoming a requirement, the majority of school districts in the state — about 52 percent — already require 24 or more credits to graduate, according to a 2007 study by the State Board of Education.

“The trick is if Core 24 were simply about number of credits, that statistic would be more compelling,” said Kathe Taylor, policy director for the State Board.

Core 24 prescribes more math, science, English and career-oriented classes. Plus, students must choose between a college-bound track or technical career track, each with different credit requirements.

“Up until now students have had to have good advising, savvy parents or be savvy themselves,” Taylor said. “What Core 24 does is it levels the playing field. It automatically puts students in a set of requirements that makes them ready for anything.”

Core 24 also costs money, but how much depends on the district. The State Board of Education will not require Core 24 until the state can pay for the things districts need to implement the new policy, such as more counselors, science labs, classroom space, math and science teachers and curriculum materials. After the state agrees to fund Core 24, the State Board is planning a six-year phase-in to help districts ease into the requirements.

Wenatchee and Eastmont school officials said their districts are still calculating the implementation costs if Core 24 becomes law.

In the meantime, a task force is working on the unanswered questions: What about students who need to take classes more than once? How will it impact career-tech programs and skills centers? Brewster High School Principal Linda Dezellem is one of 20 administrators, school board members and teachers who volunteered for the panel.

“The (Brewster school) board said if we’re looking at adding a math requirement then let’s look at the whole picture,” Dezellem said. “I brought in my work from the task force and we looked at our offerings.”

Before the policy change, Brewster required the state minimum of its students — 19 credits — although students could take up to 24 credits within their six-period day.

“Most students were looking at taking more credits, but they weren’t focused,” Dezellem said. “They had the option to fail 20 percent of their education and still graduate on time. What our board was looking for was a more meaningful high school diploma.”

The district already planned to change the high school to a seven-period day in anticipation of a smaller teaching staff. As an added bonus, the new schedule gave students the chance to earn up to 29 credits, Dezellem said. New subjects were added to the schedule, including journalism, floral design and creative writing.

Although Brewster was spared from laying off teachers, the high school counselor was reassigned to teach part-time. Chavez said the district is hoping for more funding to boost counseling support.

Other implementation costs didn’t amount to much. The district had the necessary space, labs and curriculum materials. Levy money paid for an extra math teacher, Chavez said.

“The stars aligned,” he said. “We had the right staff and the right schedule in place to make it happen.”

Rachel Schleif: 664-7139

schleif@wenatcheeworld.com