The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education meeting on Oct. 29 was full of robust discussions and debates about school curriculum and computer access for all BHUSD students. Particularly interesting was a proposal by Board President Noah Margo to institute a financial literacy curriculum for Beverly Hills High School (BHHS) students. He also asked fellow board members to consider requiring BHHS students to participate in community service sites, such as homeless shelters and soup kitchens in order to “instill a sense of humanity” as a learned skill along with traditional academic instruction.
President Margo recommended that financial literacy should be a semester course for BHHS freshman commencing in 2024. He explained that financial literacy is an important curriculum because across the nation, many students are not being taught at home how to manage their finances resulting in future issues such as college students with credit card debt. Margo stressed the importance of high school students learning about such topics as budgeting, understanding the Federal Reserve System, credit card use, and how to maintain checking/savings accounts as part of “real world” life skills experience. Board members recognized the importance of financial literacy and considered various options of making the course an elective, requirement for graduation, or an online course. Margo stated that it would be “a disservice to students” not to offer the curriculum and suggested that high school seniors demonstrate that they know how to manage their finances before they graduate. It was ultimately determined to have BHUSD staff look into the feasibility of the options and report back with a presentation regarding the financial literacy curriculum options.
