At least one school board trustee is questioning the district’s
policy of barring seniors who don’t pass the high school exit exam
from participating in graduation ceremonies.
Morgan Hill – At least one school board trustee is questioning the district’s policy of barring seniors who don’t pass the high school exit exam from participating in graduation ceremonies.
Morgan Hill Unified School District trustee Shelle Thomas said she’s interested in re-evaluating the board’s policy after learning Sobrato senior Rosalina Chavez earned a 3.0 GPA and a $1,000 scholarship to Gavilan College but won’t be allowed to walk.
“Given the conversations I had with teachers, it sounds as though this student slipped through the cracks,” Thomas said, suggesting the current rules about who can and cannot wear a cap and gown could be punitive to English learners who don’t pass the test.
Chavez, 18, is an English learner who earned all the credits she needs to graduate but barely missed on the math section of the California High School Exit Exam. She plans to re-take the exam this summer.
Remarkably, she passed the reading and writing test.
Chavez is broken-hearted about missing her chance to wear a cap and gown with her high school friends.
Chavez is one of 13 Sobrato and 18 Live Oak seniors who have not passed one or both parts of the exit exam.
Most are either special education students or English learners.
Chavez said one reason she failed the math exam is because the school did not offer her a geometry class this year. Instead, she was placed in a program designed to help English learners pass the exit exam. She said the course improved her writing skills, but did not allow her to pass the math test.
The exit exam requires mastery of an eighth-grade level of math.
Sobrato Principal Rich Knapp wouldn’t comment on Chavez’s academic counseling or performance other than to say “She’s a hard worker.” The school’s confidentiality policy prevents him from sharing information on individual students.
However, Knapp said school officials work hard to identify students who are not passing the exit exams and provide them the help they need.
Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Alan Nishino also defended the school’s curriculum, saying he looked into the matter and determined the school made proper decisions.
School board president Peter Mandel said he’s always willing to have open discussions, but for now he stands behind the graduation policy. Even if confronted by a tearful Chavez – who last week sent letters to all seven board members and Nishino asking to wear a cap and gown – he said he would not back down.
In April, Chavez won a $1,000 scholarship to attend Gavilan College next fall.
Martinez said Chavez is still eligible for the Gavilan scholarship and can enroll in classes in the fall. However, until she passes the exit exam and gets her diploma, Chavez will be ineligible for federal financial aid.
Chavez said she is enrolled in the district’s summer school program and will re-take the math exam in July.
She’s planning on spending two years at Gavilan and transferring to Heald College to study nursing.
“It’s a good future,” she said. “Something steady.”
Those who know her are confident she can make it.
“The system absolutely let her down,” said Andrea Nicolette, Chavez’s supervisor at the Centennial Recreation Center’s Kid Zone, where Chavez works an after-school job with children. “I think the education system tries to be fair … but its just so hard for many English learners. It means so much for her to be the first in her family to graduate and after all she’s overcome she deserves to celebrate with her class. To her credit, I know she’ll overcome this.”
