It’s a question of policy for school board members, but for students Federica Bruno and Lisa Gilardi, both 17 and from Italy, it’s a question of their future.
For the two current Live Oak High School seniors, they want to graduate with their friends and classmates. Yet because of board policy, or a lack thereof, the task is proving more difficult said than done.
A school board meeting on Feb. 14, where the Morgan Hill Unified School District’s school board discussed specific requirements for honorary diplomas displayed a range of confusion from both members of the audience and school board members and staff: what is currently allowed per California Education Code, and what could MHUSD implement?
For host mom Madelyn Mancini, the case is becoming a source of angst; she just wants her girls to graduate and she isn’t giving up.
“I’m really frustrated,” she said. “They’re almost done with school and we don’t have an answer yet.”
Past host mother Brooke Bailey, similarly thinks these and other students should be allowed to graduate with regular diplomas, not just honorary. Bailey has had at least two students earn regular diplomas from Sobrato High School.
“It is ridiculous that the district is claiming that no foreign exchange students have ever graduated from their high schools! I agree with (Claudia) Rossi and (Bob) Benevento about becoming a haven for exchange students – our own students benefit so much from the exposure to students from other countries!,” she said via email.
Bruno and Gilardi were on their way to completing their graduation requirements to receive a diploma from Live Oak when they were told they couldn’t. Both are taking adult night classes to complete their civics requirements, have had their transcripts sent over from their schools in Italy and are completing the MHUSD grad requirements. Yet currently, they cannot receive a regular diploma because they are foreign exchange students.
Mancini and her husband have been host parents to foreign exchange students for the past 20 years. One of those students, Elena Coloviznina from Russia, was the only senior they hosted before this school year. She graduated in 1995 with the rest of her Live Oak class with what appears to be a regular diploma, with no indication of the word “honorary” on it.
California Department of Education Information Officer, Tina Jung, clarified California Education Code 51225.5 on foreign exchange diplomas: are foreign exchange students allowed regular diplomas, not just honorary?
“Yes it’s possible, but only the local school district can decide this. The state has no role,” said Jung.
In fact, districts such as Antelope Valley High School District, located in Lancaster, confirmed through their educational services staff that their policy allows international exchange students a regular diploma if they satisfactorily complete the districts graduation requirements, including the California High School Exit Exam.
Board trustee Shellè Thomas thinks the district needs to consider not only these particular students that brought up the policy, but others in years to come.
“I think right now, we’re reacting to something instead of enacting a policy,” she said. “It carries more ramifications than we think it does. How do we build something that is consistent?”
Thomas said she would be in favor of seeing what sort of policy the board can build from this. Although she said she hasn’t made up her mind, she wants to see what other policies districts in Santa Clara County have for foreign students.
Trustee Rossi outwardly spoke for a regular diploma at the Feb. 14 meeting, yet wants to make sure that these students do not have group advantage over any other students already in the district. She is not suggesting, she said, that foreign exchange students do any less work than regular students. It would be up to them to do the extra work, such as night classes. Rossi said the situation could be a ‘win-win’ for the district.
“There’s a bigger picture here: can we set a tone? I would like to see Morgan Hill become a destination for these wonderful ambassadors,” said Rossi. “Many students don’t have the chance to travel to foreign countries, and here we are bringing these wonderful students to them.”
Trustee Peter Mandel said that even if the California Education Code did allow for regular diplomas, his concern would be the extra work it would take to earn the equivalent courses in a foreign country translated to MHUSD standards.
“The diplomas should have the same meaning whether the students comes from abroad, another district in California, or another state. If you get a diploma, it has a certain meaning,” said Mandel. “For foreign exchange students to come in, we don’t have resources to review their entire history of coursework to see if it reaches the same criteria.”
The school board is scheduled to discuss the policy again at next Tuesday’s school board meeting.
