JACKSON TWP — Some school districts across Western Pennsylvania are starting to phase out a graduation requirement that mandates students complete a senior project, but the Seneca Valley School District likely won’t change its stance soon.

Assistant Superintendent Matt McKinley said at a school board meeting Monday night that he is strongly in favor of keeping senior projects as a requirement even as other school districts such as Gateway and Chartiers Valley in Allegheny County begin phasing them out.

Other districts, including Pittsburgh Public Schools and Bethel Park, are reviewing their policies concerning the matter, but Seneca Valley currently isn’t one of them.

Seneca Valley has required a senior project since 1995, before the state mandated one, McKinley said.

He said new regulations approved by the state Board of Education have eliminated the senior project for anyone graduating after 2016. School districts now have the option to continue the program or eliminate it.

For McKinley, that choice is a no-brainer for several reasons.

“Through the years I’ve seen such magnificent projects completed by students,” he said. “I’ve seen rescue dogs trained and so many charitable efforts by students.”

In addition, McKinley said, many students pick a project that correlates with a career they’re interested in pursuing. The senior project puts those students in direct contact with that profession, and sometimes students realize it’s not what they expected.

“They can learn that lesson before they or their parents spend any money on college,” McKinley said. “What a valuable lesson to learn in high school.”

Senior projects also “get students out of their comfort zone, out and interacting with the community” during the several months it takes to complete them, he said.

The benefits of the senior projects can be seen every year, McKinley said, and he hopes to see those benefits for many years to come.

“I’m very proud of how our students’ projects have grown through the years,” he said. “It’s always been a project of integrity for the district. Hopefully we can keep it that way.”

The board listened to McKinley’s report and took no action regarding senior projects.