Policy: 2418

Section: 2000 - Instruction

Title: Waiver of High School Graduation Credits 

Status: Active

Adopted: June 16, 2020

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Waiver of High School Graduation Credits

The board seeks to provide all students with the opportunity to complete graduation requirements without discrimination and without disparate impact on groups of students. In so doing, the board acknowledges that circumstances may arise that prevent a student from earning all thirty credits required for graduation with a Ferndale High School diploma or twenty four credits required for graduation with a Ferndale School District diploma. Such circumstances may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Homelessness;
• A health condition resulting in an inability to attend class;
• Limited English proficiency;
• Disability, regardless of whether the student has an individualized education program or a plan under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
• Denial of an opportunity to retake classes or enroll in remedial classes free of charge during the first four years of high school;
• Transfer during the last two years of high school from a school with different graduation requirements; and
• Other circumstances (e.g., emergency, natural disaster, trauma, personal or family crisis) that directly compromised a student's ability to learn.

The board delegates to the superintendent or designee discretion to grant a waiver of a maximum of two elective credits required for graduation.  A request must be submitted prior to the student’s scheduled graduation date. In order to graduate, students granted a waiver must earn 18.5 required subject credits to obtain a Ferndale High School diploma (four English, three Math, three Science, three and a half Social Studies, two and a half Health and Fitness, one Arts, one and a half Career and Technical Education) or seventeen required subject credits for Ferndale School District (four English, three Math, three Science, three Social Studies, two Health and Fitness, one Arts, one Career and Technical Education) which may be satisfactory demonstration of competence as provided by WAC 180- 51-050.

Procedures

The Superintendent is directed to develop procedures to support this policy.

Cross References:	2410 - High School Graduation Requirements
Legal References:	RCW 28A.230.090 High School graduation requirements or equivalencies -- High School and beyond plans - Career and college ready graduation requirements and waivers -- Reevaluation of graduation requirements--Language requirements -- Credit for courses taken before attending high school -- Postsecondary credit equivalencies RCW 28A.345.080 Model policy and procedure for granting waivers of credit for high school graduation WAC 180-51-068 State subject and credit requirements for high school graduation—Students entering the ninth grade on or after July 1, 2015. WAC 180-51-050 High school credit—Definition.
Management Resources:	2015 - April Policy Issue

 

 

Adoption Date: 06.16.2020

Ferndale School District

Revised: 04.27.2021; 06.25.2024