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Logan Daily News
Ohio high schools to set own graduation requirements
By John Stran
Apr 13, 2020
LOGAN — As schools remain closed at least until May 1, the normal process of graduating high school has become a bit unfamiliar.
The signing into law of House Bill 197 in late March extended school
closings to May 1 and exempted all schools from administering state
achievement and alternative assessments.
Paolo DeMaria, Ohio’s superintendent of public instruction and Ohio
Gov. Mike DeWine have also allowed high schools to take majority
control in determining the criteria for graduation.
Logan-Hocking School District Superintendent Monte Bainter described
what the district is currently doing, which is looking at students who
were in jeopardy of not earning the proper amount of graduation credits
around the time the schools closed then working with them to earn a
diploma.
“We will look at every senior and evaluate where they are,” commented
Bainter. “We will look at those seniors who may have needed that fourth
nine weeks to graduate and contact them and give them a checklist of
things they need to complete in order to graduate.”
Brice Frasure, director of student programs for the LHSD, added that
the school is working with students by helping them go back and earn
credits as if they were attending summer school. Logan High School
students must earn a total of 22 required and elective credits to
graduate.
“For the most part, kids are on track and I don’t foresee any major
issues with getting our kids to graduation because the state has
allowed us more flexibility to handle that,” remarked Frasure.
Prior to the schools closing, two new options were introduced by the
Ohio Department of Education to earn a diploma.These new options are
for the graduating class of 2020 only.
The original state graduation requirements included earning 20 credits
in major courses, receiving certain scores in state testing or the
ACT/SAT or earning an industry recognized credential and score on a
workforce readiness test.
The first new graduation option states that students must meet two of the following requirements:
• Earn a 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale in all courses completed during the 11th and 12th grade.
• Complete a capstone project during the 12th grade that meets the criteria defined by Ohio Department of Education and
Governor’s Office for Workforce Transformation
• Complete a work or community service experience totaling 120 hours during 12th grade.
• Earn three or more college credit plus credits at any time during high school.
• Earn credit for an advanced placement course and earn an AP exam score of three or higher.
• Earn a WorkKeys exam of three on each of the exam’s three sections.
• Earn a state board-approved, industry-recognized credential.
• Or meet the Ohio Means Jobs Readiness Seal requirements.
The other new option for graduation is by finishing a career and
technical program while either earning a total score of proficient or
better based on all career technical exams or test modules; receiving
an industry-recognized credential or credentials that equal 12 points
or completing workplace experience totaling 250 hours with evidence of
positive evaluations.
These are still credible options but they were created prior to
COVID-19 and the Stay at Home order. The state is now leaving it up to
the principals and teachers of the state to determine if these
graduation options work for their respective schools.
Bainter is still determined to have a graduation ceremony for seniors
and has several dates picked out to potentially hold a ceremony.
Currently, the earliest date would be in late May and the latest being
early to mid July.
“We want to be as accommodating as we can be while making sure the
students are doing what they need to do to earn their diploma,”
concluded Bainter.
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