Possible modifications to the public speaking requirement were discussed at the District 219 board meeting on Sept. 9.
The public speaking credit is a local requirement established by District 219, not a requirement of the Illinois State Board of Education. It was approved in 2011 to begin with the class of 2016 after a discussion by the Board of Education in hopes of improving students’ communication skills.
According to the Niles Township 2025-2026 school year course guide, Theater Workshop, Introduction to Debate, Public Speaking, Digital Storytelling, Broadcast Production, STEM Inquiry and Research, Avid 9/10, EL Lit Courses, AP Seminar and AP African American Studies all fulfill the public speaking requirement.
Following the addition of the public speaking requirement, the Communications Department was created in 2015 and housed many of the courses that fulfilled the public speaking requirement. The department was dissolved two years years later, and those courses were absorbed into other departments. Social studies teacher Eric Oddo was the director of the Communications Department and advocated heavily for the public speaking requirement.
“A lot of people actually are very scared and nervous of public speaking…I think it’s because we rely on our cell phones so much nowadays that we don’t know how to really communicate one-on-one or make eye contact and things like that,” Oddo said.
Each year, teachers and administrators bring proposals to the curriculum committee for additional classes to fulfill the requirement. Most of these courses already exist, and proposals indicate that students are already learning public speaking skills in those classes or plan to add learning goals to existing curricula. According to Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Christine Gonzales, as more classes have requested to count as a public speaking credit, the discussion of removing or modifying the requirement has surfaced.
“Any changes to the public speaking requirements would either be we keep it, and if we keep it we would want to make sure it’s clear what the criteria is for any course that’s meeting a public speaking graduation requirement, and then if we’re not going to keep it, that would be the change,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales believes that though public speaking is an important skill, most courses have begun to incorporate public speaking into their curriculum.
“There’s always going to be an added value for helping support students in how they can be most effective in their communication…I personally believe that from the classes I’ve seen, what the public speaking course was intended to nurture and support is actually embedded in nearly all the courses that we office in the school district already,” Gonzales said.
Freshman Marco Molina believes the public speaking requirement is beneficial for students and should continue.
“I think it’s beneficial in some ways, like being more social with people or being more comfortable in front of classes. In general, it helps with [students] not being nervous,” Molina said.
Oddo continues to advocate for the public speaking credit and hopes for its continuation.
“I would strongly encourage [the administration] to get the history and the genesis behind the public speaking requirement before making any rash decisions,” Oddo said.
There are no confirmations as to the future of the public speaking requirement, but the board hopes to make a decision before the submission deadline for the 2026-2027 school year course plans at the end of November.
