Wonder how this will impact graduation rates?

CHARLESTON, W.Va.--Kanawha County high school seniors who walk across the stage at graduation will now have to meet all the graduation requirements, the school board decided Monday evening.

In a 3-1 vote, board members put an end to a practice that allowed seniors to participate in year-end graduation ceremonies if they were one credit or less short of meeting the full high school graduation requirements.

The new policy could affect dozens of students who have not completed a required course, for instance, or had failed half of a required class but planned to complete the course in the summer after their senior year. Even under the old practice, students were not allowed to participate if they were missing more than one credit.

Superintendent Ron Duerring questioned the new policy, saying it could put up "another wall" for students and "rob" them of the chance to take part in the ceremony after more than a decade of schooling.

He said allowing students just shy of earning their diplomas the chance to participate hurt no one and did not weaken the current process. The superintendent said he knew of no student who went through graduation ceremonies and did not later earn the credit or half-credit.

Duerring said students have unexpected problems, like illnesses or deaths in the family.

"I don't think they get to that senior year and say, 'Gee, I want to be a credit and a half short," Duerring said.

He also called high school graduation the "last pomp and circumstance" many people would ever receive, something that may be taken for granted by people who go onto college.

"Why would we want to rob them of that chance?" Duerring said. "For some this is the biggest milestone in their life."

He added, "That carries with us until we depart this world."

But board members Jim Crawford, Robin Rector and Pete Thaw, who voted for the stricter stance, were unmoved. Board President Becky Jordon was the lone supporter of keeping what had been the current practice. The fifth board member, Bill Raglin, was not at the meeting.

Crawford said students who walked without completing all the graduation requirements had "participated in a falsehood."

He said students have plenty of chances to fulfill the full requirements. Right now the county provides summer classes as well as "credit recovery" software to help students graduate.

"We've given them every opportunity in the world to get their requirements," Crawford said.

Thaw said students either meet the graduation requirements or they don't.

"It's like being partially pregnant - you either graduate or not," Thaw said.

Capital High School Principal Clinton Giles, who had written a letter to the school board in support of the new restrictions, said in a phone interview that the policy that allowed students to walk without all their requirements contradicted the school system's attempt to get students to graduate and graduate on time.

Giles said that "conservatively speaking" about 10 percent of the graduating class at Capital has been able to go through the ceremony without having met all the requirements. He said the numbers were likely similar at other county high schools.

The students who had been allowed to engage in the ceremony without all their credits were typically given a decorative binder during the ceremony but not a diploma.

Oddly, Giles said these students are the most likely to engage in pre-planned celebrations.

"Some of the wildest celebrations both on the floor and in the stands are unfortunately those students who actually have not graduated - it is ironic, weird, strange," Giles said. "It is remarkable."

The school board also Monday agreed to hire eight new graduation coaches, one for each of the county's high schools. The coaches, who will be paid with money from the federal stimulus package, will help students graduate on time.

The board also hired a new principal at Herbert Hoover High School. Mike Kelley, the assistant principal at South Charleston High School, will replace controversial principal Roy Jones.

Duerring said Kelley had experience with both discipline and curriculum.

"I think he brings a good background to the job," Duerring said.

School officials said last week that Jones now will direct alternative programs for students.