Carmel High School students will no longer need to pass a swim test to graduate, ending a requirement that dates to the 1960s.
The Carmel Unified School Board approved three changes to the school's graduation requirements in June 2026, as The Sandpiper first reported on Oct. 1. The board eliminated the swim test as a graduation requirement starting with the Class of 2030, reduced community service hours from 60 to 40, and dropped the technology course requirement.
The changes followed years of discussion among counselors, administrators and teachers, who reviewed California's minimum graduation standards and UC and CSU admission requirements before bringing a proposal to the board.
The swim test
The swim test requires students to swim four laps and tread water for 15 minutes. Teacher and swim coach Bob Walthour pushed to make it a graduation requirement in the 1960s after a student drowned at Carmel Beach.
Students will still complete the swim curriculum and take the test in physical education class. It just won't block graduation.
Principal Libby Duethman pointed to unequal access to swimming outside of school as the reason for the change. "The problem is that not everyone took swim lessons or had access to a pool growing up," Duethman told The Sandpiper. "It's not fair to expect the same from each student when that's the case."
P.E. teacher Debbie French told The Sandpiper she believes it is necessary to give all students the opportunity to learn to swim proficiently and that she is not sure removing the requirement was the right choice.
Community service and technology
The board cut the community service requirement from 60 hours over four years to 40 hours, effective this school year. Duethman told The Sandpiper the reduction was influenced by students' varying access to volunteer opportunities and similar changes in other districts.
Sophomore Neelima Solano Ramirez, who had logged nearly 200 hours from summer volunteering as of Oct. 1, told The Sandpiper the hours are manageable for students who stay on track. Duethman estimated that about half of seniors will still have a large number of hours left when she checks their progress around January.
The technology course requirement was eliminated because staff questioned whether it still served its original purpose. The course predates school-issued Chromebooks, and no other districts in Duethman's comparisons maintain such a requirement.
Photography teacher Holly Lederle told The Sandpiper the change could affect enrollment in courses like Video Production and Photography, which attracted students partly because they satisfied both arts and technology requirements.
Duethman said the board approved these three changes as a first phase and that the school is considering a second phase examining other graduation requirements. No timeline for that review has been announced.
