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The debate over possible changes to Hawaii’s high school graduation requirements extended into a University of Hawaii Board of Regents meeting Thursday.

A regent said he is afraid the liberal arts might be abandoned, while a vice president applauded the effort to give students a head start on their careers.

Teachers, students and community members all over the state have expressed concern that the Board of Education might reduce the number of social studies credits required for high schoolers from four to three. In exchange, students would get a sixth elective credit at their disposal. The goal, Department of Education officials say, is for students to have the flexibility to begin pursuing their career interests in high school

Regent Richard Gee said that he hopes that UH’s focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses doesn’t detract from traditional education for Hawaii’s high schoolers as they prepare for college. He said he is particularly worried about the possibility that social studies requirements may be reduced.

“I hope we don’t neglect the liberal arts side of education,” he told Vice President of Community Colleges John Morton. “We don’t want to graduate students who are technically adept and functionally illiterate.”

Morton responded that the proposed graduation requirements are designed to give students more opportunity.

The proposal, he said, gives students an additional credit so those interested in STEM careers can take additional STEM courses, those interested in liberal arts can take more social studies courses, and those planning to go straight into technical careers can take more career/technical education courses.

“It’s more about flexibility than about devaluing the social sciences,” Morton said, adding that there just weren’t enough credits for the Department of Education to require everything it would like to require while still setting students up to pursue their interests in high school and beyond.