In June 2009, the Board of Education passed a resolution directing the superintendent to develop an implementation plan for UC 'a-g' for all students, which included the direction to establish a steering committee to review district graduation requirements and make recommendations for changes and/or modifications, and report its recommendations to the board and superintendent.

In September 2009, the board approved an agreement with the Education Trust West (ETW) to conduct an Educational Opportunity Audit to provide the district with data needed to make recommendations to implement 'a-g' for all students. The audit included analysis of a random sampling of student transcripts and other artifacts from the class of 2009, conducting focus groups at five high schools with students, teachers, and school counselors; and conducting a community conversation about college and career readiness with parents and community members.

In February 2010, ETW made a presentation to the board on its work to date and provided an overview of the audit process. Staff provided the board with updates on the progress of the audit via memoranda in December 2009, April 2010, June 2010, and July 2010. ETW presented its findings to the board, Superintendent's Cabinet, CRCP Task Force and the general public in September 2010. The CRCP Task Force met in September, October, November, and December 2010, and January 2011, to review the audit findings, and develop proposed action steps and timelines for implementation of the ETW recommendations. Staff provided the board with updates on the progress of the Task Force via memoranda in November and December 2010, and held a meeting in January 2011, to update new board members o the 'a-g' initiative. On February 22, 2011, the CRCP Task Force recommendations were presented to the Board of Education for information.

On March 29, 2011, the Career Ready and College Preparatory Task Force recommendations were presented to Board of Education for action. The Board approved recommendations #1 (align district graduation subject requirements with UC/CSU ‘a-g’ subject requirements); #4 (require new graduation requirements to be implemented with the class of 2016); and #5 (encourage extra support for students earning D and F grades). The Board did NOT approve recommendation #3 (increase the number of graduation requirement credits from 44 to 48).

The Board sent recommendation #2 (add career readiness graduation requirements) to the Career Technical Education Advisory Committee (CTEAC) for review. The CTEAC met on May 12, 2011, to review CRCP Task Force recommendation #2. The CTEAC agreed with the recommendation to add career readiness graduation requirements. On June 14, 2011, the CTEAC recommendation was presented to the Board of Education for action. The Board approved the recommendation.