South Coast high schools would have to offer MassCore to the class of 2031 under proposed state rule
The commissioner says the rule adds no new graduation requirement for individual students. Five South Coast districts, with Seekonk lowest at 36.7%, reported 2025 MassCore completion below the state's 82.1%, and a final vote is expected March 23, 2027.
SOUTH COAST Every public high school on the South Coast would have to offer the state's MassCore course plan to all students who start ninth grade in fall 2027, under rules the state education department posted Friday.
Commissioner Pedro Martinez will present the proposed regulations, 603 CMR 59.00, to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for discussion Tuesday, Nov. 17, with no vote listed that day. The schedule printed on the proposal lists Dec. 15 for the board's initial action, a public comment period ending Feb. 15, 2027, and a final vote expected March 23, 2027.
Martinez wrote in a Nov. 6 memo to the board that the duty would fall on schools. "The requirement is on high schools to provide this program of study to every student. It does not add a new statewide graduation requirement for individual students," he wrote. The state's graduation council had proposed in its final report that the class of 2031 be required to complete MassCore to graduate, Martinez told the board in an Oct. 15 memo. Graduation requirements for individual students that follow the new framework will take legislation, the department said in its Oct. 27 presentation to the board.
What schools would have to offer
Starting with ninth graders in the 2027-28 school year, this year's eighth graders and the class of 2031, every high school would have to provide MassCore: four units of English, four of math including Algebra II, three of lab-based science, three of history and social science including U.S. History, two of the same world language, one of the arts and five more full-year courses, along with the physical education state law already requires. The rule covers any school giving publicly funded instruction in grades nine through 12, which takes in charter schools and the county agricultural school as well as district and vocational high schools.
A unit is a full academic year of study, or its equivalent, that covers the state's curriculum framework for the subject, uses instructional materials that meet the department's rubric for that subject where one applies, and includes periodic checks of what students have mastered, the proposal says. The department would issue guidance on substitute courses, and high schools would have to give extra help to any student falling short in a MassCore subject, with supports that account for English learners and students with disabilities. The proposal says it does not limit or expand those students' rights under state and federal law.
A plan for every student
A year later, starting with ninth graders in 2028-29, the class of 2032, high schools would have to give every student the chance to build a postsecondary plan through a process that starts no later than ninth grade. Each plan would list the student's interests, strengths, skills and goals after high school, lay out coursework toward graduation and those goals, and track the student's progress.
The planning process would have to include financial literacy, artificial intelligence and digital literacy, a work-based learning experience, and filing the federal or state college aid application, the FAFSA or the MASFA, or opting out. The department's model is My Career and Academic Plan, known as MyCAP, which Martinez wrote is well established in many high schools but not yet available to all students.
Deadlines and checks for districts
Districts would have to certify to the state that all their high schools meet the MassCore requirement before the 2027-28 school year starts or by Sept. 1, 2027, whichever comes first, and certify the planning requirement on the same terms by Sept. 1, 2028. The department would build a system to audit whether schools deliver both, and the commissioner could waive parts of the rule for good cause when a district asks in writing.
Where South Coast districts stand
Statewide, 58,619 of 71,405 graduates in 2025, or 82.1%, completed MassCore, according to the counts districts reported to the department, which notes that state graduation requirements changed between 2024 and 2025.
Five South Coast districts reported 2025 rates below the state's: Seekonk, Map Academy Charter School in Plymouth, Somerset Berkley, Westport and Fall River. Seekonk reported the lowest, with 55 of its 150 graduates completing MassCore, and Map Academy reported 22 of its 59. Districts reporting that every graduate finished it include New Bedford, Swansea, Dighton-Rehoboth, Middleborough, Bridgewater-Raynham, Atlantis Charter and Global Learning Charter, along with the region's vocational high schools and Bristol County Agricultural High School.
| District | Graduates | Completed MassCore | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seekonk | 150 | 55 | 36.7% |
| Map Academy Charter (Plymouth) | 59 | 22 | 37.3% |
| Somerset Berkley Regional | 209 | 145 | 69.4% |
| Westport | 92 | 65 | 70.7% |
| Fall River | 597 | 474 | 79.4% |
| Taunton | 558 | 486 | 87.1% |
| Plymouth | 577 | 508 | 88.0% |
| Statewide | 71,405 | 58,619 | 82.1% |
The 2025 figures for 19 South Coast districts are in South Coast 360's Oct. 30 story on MassCore, which did not include Seekonk, Plymouth, Map Academy Charter, Middleborough or Bridgewater-Raynham.
In Plymouth, the School Committee is set to hear about the state's proposed graduation framework Monday, Nov. 16, as part of the superintendent's report. The committee meets at 6 p.m. in the Mayflower Room at the district's central offices.
How the state got here
Gov. Maura Healey created the Statewide Graduation Council by executive order after a change in state law removed the requirement that students earn a qualifying MCAS score to graduate, Martinez wrote. That change was the 2024 ballot question, Question 2, which put coursework that each district certifies as showing mastery of the state's academic standards in place of passing the MCAS, according to the state's summary of the law. The council released an interim report in December 2025, and Martinez presented its final report to the board in June.
MassCore has been the board's recommended course plan since 2007, but access remains uneven, Martinez wrote. The proposal builds on the board's 2025 changes to the competency determination rules, which set the minimum coursework a student must complete. "Where 603 CMR 30.00 sets the floor for what an individual student must complete, 603 CMR 59.00 addresses what every high school must offer, so that all students have the opportunity to graduate prepared for college, career, and civic life," he wrote.
What happens next
The board meets Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lawrence High School Performing Arts Center in Lawrence, and the meeting will be livestreamed and recorded. Deputy Commissioner Lauren Woo and Senior Associate Commissioner Adam Seidel are to join Martinez for the discussion. The same agenda includes accountability determinations and a fiscal 2028 budget proposal with a report from the board's budget committee.
The board sets aside up to 30 minutes for public comment at its regular meetings, with up to three minutes for each speaker, and accepts written comments of any length. Requests to speak and written comments can be sent by email to BoardofEducation@mass.gov, by fax to 781-338-3770 or by mail to the board at 135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149. Under the schedule on the proposal, the public comment period on the rule ends Feb. 15, 2027, ahead of the final vote the board expects to take March 23, 2027.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact comes from the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education's November 2026 board documents page, Commissioner Pedro Martinez's Nov. 6 memo and the proposed 603 CMR 59.00 attached to it, his Oct. 15 memo and the department's Oct. 27 presentation to the board, the department's 2024-25 MassCore completion report, the Secretary of the Commonwealth's summary of 2024 Question 2 and the Plymouth School Committee's Nov. 16 agenda, all listed below. We read them Nov. 13, 2026, and checked each date and weekday against a calendar. The South Coast districts in the table and the full-completion list are the department's own counts. Not heard: the department and South Coast districts were not asked for comment for this story.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (8)
- Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Board Documents: November 2026Regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lawrence High School Performing Arts Center; agenda posted Nov. 13, 2026, 8:45 a.m.; livestreamed and recorded; public comment rules and contact. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- New Proposed Regulations for High School Requirements, 603 CMR 59.00 (memo)Commissioner Pedro Martinez to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, dated Nov. 6, 2026, item 2 for the Nov. 17 meeting. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- Proposed Regulations on MassCore and Postsecondary Plan Requirements for High Schools, 603 CMR 59.00Enclosure to the Nov. 6 memo; initial action Dec. 15, 2026, comment period ends Feb. 15, 2027, final action anticipated March 23, 2027. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- K-12 Statewide Graduation Standards: Foundational Coursework and Postsecondary Planning (memo)Commissioner Pedro Martinez to the board, dated Oct. 15, 2026, item 3 for the Oct. 27 meeting. Read Oct. 30, 2026, and again Nov. 13, 2026.
- Graduation Framework: Foundational Coursework + Postsecondary Planning (presentation)Department of Elementary and Secondary Education presentation to the board, Oct. 27, 2026. Read Oct. 30, 2026, and again Nov. 13, 2026.
- 2024-25 MassCore Completion Report (District), All StudentsDepartment of Elementary and Secondary Education, School and District Profiles; data last updated Jan. 8, 2026. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- 2024 Statewide Question 2, summarySecretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Election Statistics. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- Plymouth School Committee agenda, Monday, Nov. 16, 2026Regular meeting, 6 p.m., Mayflower Room, Plymouth Public Schools central offices; superintendent's report lists the DESE proposed graduation framework. Printed Nov. 12, 2026. Read Nov. 13, 2026.