ADAMS TWP — The Mars School Board has approved a number of curriculum modifications for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year, including the addition of a course to supplement the studies of special education students.

Lindsay Rosswog, high school principal, and Travis Mineard, special education director, presented a new “study seminar” course proposed for the 2019-2020 school year that would help special education students in their studies and help streamline staff efforts in aiding them.

The course would focus on teaching students organizational skills, study skills, test-taking strategies and more, Mineard said.

The course content and length would vary based on the needs of the students, with some having the option to take the one-credit course all four years during high school.

It will be offered to students in grades nine through 12 but will not be in the course catalog. Students will be recommended individually, Mineard said. The district expects the course to reduce students' stress and help them in their studies.

In other curriculum changes, the district will add two College in High School courses: business math and either American government or principles of sociology.

The board also voted to delete the Learning Enrichment course offered to gifted students. The course was meant to supplement gifted students' education, but few took the non-weighted, one-credit course saying it could be detrimental to their QPAs.

Rosswog said the school could not weight the course because it would give gifted students an unfair advantage over those who did not qualify for it.

Finally, the board voted to limit any potential 2019-2020 real estate tax rate increase to 2.3 percent. This was not a vote to raise taxes, solicitor Thomas King said, but a vote to set a ceiling for any potential real estate taxes for the coming school year.