Daybreak talk with Chalkbeat reporter Aleksandra AppletonScott Sander and Aleksandra Appleton discuss the current comment period and upcoming public hearing about diploma standards. INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It’s your turn to grab the wheel in the long and winding road to a revamp of Indiana’s high school graduation requirements. A public hearing will soon punctuate an open comment period that is underway as the state seeks opinions about the current version of the diploma rules rewrite. The graduation issue has taken longer to play out than education leaders and many state lawmakers expected. The Indiana Board of Education initially approved a set of changes back in March, but reaction to it was so swift and strong that planners went back to the whiteboard and re-wrote the requirement suggestions. The initial version encouraged more work-based learning during their high school years by requiring real-world hours outside the classroom. Many parents of college-bound students balked at the plan, though, saying it would leave students with watered-down resumes that could cost them admission to the schools of their choice. Purdue and IU then added urgency to the argument, stating that the new diplomas would leave students short of requirements. That feedback led to an overhaul that yielded the current version and the comment period now underway. Aleksandra Appleton with Chalkbeat Indiana joined News 8 during Daybreak, and explained the new version of the diploma includes a basic diploma anybody can earn, along with three new seals. “One (seal) is for enrollment, one is for employment, one is for enlistment. And the idea is that if you meet the requirements of these seals, you’ll be ready to go into your chosen path after high school.” Appleton says new version has the backing of both IU and Purdue and their Big Ten peers, but local teachers still see problems in the new plan. “The main critics remaining of the new proposal are that fine arts and foreign languages are deemphasized,” Appleton said. “Department of Education officials have pointed out that these were never required in any Indiana diploma. But teachers of these subjects say that while they were sort of delineated in the extra credit portion, students were encouraged to take a fine art or a foreign language.” The official public comment period is open through Nov. 8. To learn more about the specifics and weigh in online, click here. Nov. 8 is also the date of a public hearing at the Indiana Government Center South. Both the Indiana Department of Education and the State Board of Education will be part of the hearing. To participate in person or virtually, click here. Once the comment window closes, Appleton says planners will have to move quickly. “The department is required to get a plan approved by December, and they say that they are on track to meet that.”