High School Counseling

It shall be the policy of the Board of Education to acknowledge each student's successful completion of the instructional program or a personal curriculum appropriate to the achievement of District goals and objectives as well as personal proficiency, by the awarding of a diploma at graduation ceremonies.

The Board shall award a regular high school diploma to every student enrolled in this District who meets the requirements of graduation established by this Board, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), and as provided by State law.

• traditional course work;
• demonstrating mastery of subject area content expectations or guidelines for the credit;
• related course work in which content standards are embedded;
• non-traditional course work;
• independent teacher-guided study;
• testing out;
• dual enrollment;
• advanced placement courses;
• international baccalaureate or other "early college" programs; or
• on-line class. Credit may be earned by:

Students shall successfully complete an on-line course or learning experience OR shall have the on-line learning experience incorporated into each of the required credits of the Michigan Merit Curriculum.

Special education students who properly complete the programs specified in their I.E.P., or in a personal curriculum, and meet the requirements for a high school diploma, and have received the recommendation of the I.E.P.C. may participate in graduation activities as recommended by the student's I.E.P.C. Reasonable accommodation shall be made for students with disabilities, as defined under State or Federal law, to assist them in taking any required tests or assessments for graduation.

For State-mandated curriculum requirements, a student shall be granted credit toward graduation if s/he successfully completes the subject area content expectations or guidelines developed by the department that apply to the credit. A student may also receive credit if s/he earns a qualifying score, as determined by the State on the assessments developed or selected for the subject area by the State or the student earns a qualifying score, as determined by the District on one or more assessments developed or selected by the School District that measure a student's understanding of the subject area content expectations or guidelines that apply to the credit. For subject areas and courses in which a final examination is used as the assessment for successful attainment of the subject area content, a grade of C+ or better is required.

The Board shall grant credit toward high school graduation for any student who successfully completes, prior to entering high school, a State-mandated curriculum requirement, provided s/he completes the same content requirements as the high school subject area, and the student has demonstrated the same level of proficiency on the material as required of the high school students.

For elective courses, which are not State-mandated curriculum requirements, the Board shall grant credit to any high school student who is not enrolled in the course, but has exhibited a reasonable level of knowledge of the subject matter of the course by achieving C+ or better in the final exam for the course, or, if there is no final exam, through the basic assessment used for the course, which may consist of a portfolio, paper, project, presentation or other established means.

Such credit shall be counted toward the required number of credits needed for graduation. Mastery credits shall be counted toward any subject area requirement and any course sequence requirement. Once mastery credit is earned in a subject area, a student may not receive further credit for a lower sequence course in the same subject area.

A high school student shall be granted credit in any foreign language not offered by the District providing the student meets the competency criteria established by the Superintendent.

Commencement exercises will include only those students who have successfully completed requirements as certified by the high school principal. No student who has completed the requirements for graduation shall be denied a diploma as a disciplinary measure. A student may be denied participation in the ceremony of graduation, however, when personal conduct so warrants.

M.C.L. 380.1166, 380.1278a(1), 380.1278a(2), 380.1278a(4)(c), 380.1279b
20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.
20 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.
29 U.S.C. 794
42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.

Revised 8/91
Revised 7/15/95
Revised 7/25/96
Revised 4/18/07
Revised 4/2/08
Revised 12/18/08
Revised 6/17/09
Revised 2/23/11
Revised 5/16/11
Revised 7/17/13