Why 2,800 seniors in Palm Beach County schools waiting to see if they'll graduate in weeks
Palm Beach County School District leaders are joining others in pleading with the state to delay an increase in graduation requirements, which, if they go into effect, would mean nearly 3,000 students in this district alone would not walk across the stage in a few weeks.
Superintendents across the state have sent letters to the Florida Legislature asking them to postpone the increase in required SAT and ACT scores, which can be used to meet graduation requirements by students who don't pass their 10th grade state assessments.
Some districts have implemented Hail Mary attempts to hurriedly pass seniors who suffered learning loss because of the pandemic.
This year's seniors are the last class whose high school experiences were affected by the pandemic.
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School board members agreed at Wednesday night's meeting to quickly draft their own letter opposing the increase in graduation requirements. Superintendent Mike Burke said the change would create much bigger challenges for students trying to graduate than having to take a summer school class.
“It’s more challenging than just saying 'Hey, look Mike, you need a few more credits to graduate,'" Burke said. "This is 'You’ve got to pass this test,' and if we haven’t been able to get them to that level in four years, I’m not sure a summer term is going to do it.”
Board member Marcia Andrews urged the board to work with other urban school districts in the state to oppose the changes more aggressively.
"This is serious because you’re going to have children dropping out," she said. "We’re going to have to get to our legislators quickly to see how we can put a stop to this, because this is going to be devastating.”
Her appeal may have been heard. On Friday, a day after this story originally published online, Rep. Ralph E. Massullo, R-Lecanto, filed an amendment to H.B. 1537 that would allow this year's seniors who have not yet achieved a passing "concordant" score the ability to qualify for a diploma with last year's ACT and SAT requirements.
Options exist to pass high school but they don't include a diploma
Graduations in Palm Beach County are scheduled to begin May 11.
Burke said unless the Legislature delays the new graduation requirements, the school district would need to notify 2,800 students that they will not graduate. Those students could attempt to take classes over the summer to raise their SAT and ACT scores, or could pursue a high school equivalency diploma — a GED.
School board members agreed Wednesday that "time is of the essence" and lamented the outsized impact the requirements will have on the poor students who could not take SAT and ACT prep classes.
In January, Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration boasted a slight uptick, 0.4 percentage points, in Florida's graduation rates when compared with the 2018-2019 pre-pandemic year.
"This is a reflection of Florida’s top-notch educators and the governor’s unrelenting steadfast leadership,” said Grazie Christie, a member of the state Board of Education.
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The move to change the comparative test requirements was approved by the State Board of Education even before the graduating class of 2023 began high school.
Those changes, which include an increase in ACT and SAT scores and the removal of the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test as an option, were supposed to start with last year’s graduating class, but the Board decided to delay those changes and move the effective date to this year.
This year's seniors were in ninth grade when COVID-19 shuttered schools in the spring of 2020 and sent kids home to learn virtually. While in-person class resumed that fall, many families opted for online classes.
The requirements to graduate from high school
Those students did not have the same pre-COVID opportunities to take the required assessments in 10th grade, said Sonya Duke-Bolden, a spokesperson for Duval County Public Schools.
In Florida, there are three components needed to graduate from high school: a 2.0 unweighted cumulative grade point average, course credit requirements and passing scores on the state math and English tests: the grade 10 Florida Standards Assessment for English Language Arts and the Algebra 1 End-of-Course Assessment.
If a student does not pass the state tests, they can earn a “concordant,” or comparative, score on the SAT or the ACT and still earn their diploma.
This year, however, the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score for the SAT increased 50 points, from 430 to 480, and the required “concordant” score for the ACT is now 18 for both reading and English. Students now have to pass two sections. Before, a student only needed a 19 in reading.
Students also used to be able to take the PERT for math in place of the state math assessment. This year, the PERT is no longer an option.
If a student does not graduate because of a test score, they are issued a certificate of completion that says they completed the coursework.
But it’s still not a diploma. They can't go on to attend college, enroll in the military or check “yes” on a job application.
Until they earn a passing score on the “concordant” test or the state assessments, they won't graduate, said Teresa Dennis, a Leon County Schools' district transition specialist and graduation coach.
Katherine Kokal and Ana Goñi-Lessan are journalists covering education at The Palm Beach Post and the Tallahassee Democrat. You can reach Katherine at kkokal@pbpost.com and Ana at agonilessan@tallahassee.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Strict requirements may stop Palm Beach County seniors from graduating
