Beginning with the current eighth-graders, Highline public school students likely will be required to take a third year of math in order to graduate.

Superintendent John Welch told board members on Dec. 13 he would recommend that they impose the additional requirement.

Total credits needed to graduate would remain at 23, but total elective credits would be reduced to seven and a half. Students earn one credit by completing one school year of a course.

Other graduation requirements include three and a half credits in English, two in laboratory science, three in social studies, two in health and fitness, one in occupational education and one in arts.

District officials said students would take algebra as high school freshmen, geometry as sophomores and one year of advanced math as juniors or seniors.

Students could also take algebra in middle school, so they would be ready for more advanced math in high school.

Mary Roberts, secondary learning director, said colleges expect students to have taken three or more years of math before being admitted.

Competitive jobs also require upper level math, she added.

"We must give our students the opportunity to learn what others demand they demonstrate," Roberts declared.

She noted the Tukwila, Federal Way, Kent, Bellevue and Issaquah districts require four years of math.

In addition, Roberts said the district would hire 13 to 15 teachers to instruct the extra math classes.

Assistant Superintendent Carla Jackson said the district would balance math instruction between teaching computation skills and thinking skills.

Assessment director Beckie Bouchard reported that an additional 55 Highline students have passed all three subjects in the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) after summer retakes.

The 55 are eligible to graduate along with the 445 out of 1,300 students who met all state standards after taking the initial Spring WASL tests.

Students may retake the WASL four times. The state also has provided alternative methods to qualify for graduation.

In other action, board members unanimously elected Matt Pina as the new board president, replacing Phyllis Byers.

Pina, who was serving as vice president, was first elected to the board in 1999.

Julie Burr Spani, serving her first term, was unanimously selected as vice president.