State board OKs emergency graduation waivers for high school seniors

Help may be on the way for high school seniors who are struggling to meet certain graduation requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Washington State Board of Education announced Thursday the adoption of emergency rules that would allow school districts some flexibility for the waiver of certain graduation requirements.

These emergency rules apply immediately to the graduating Class of 2021.

The action comes a week after Gov. Jay Inslee signed EHB 1121, a bill that gives the board the authority to create an Emergency Waiver Program for high school graduation.

The process will give flexibility to districts.

After a district has tried all appropriate options to help a student meet credit and pathway graduation requirements, and determined that the student has shown preparation for success after high school, a school district may grant an individual student a waiver of some of those requirements.

Districts must work with students individually, give guidance on options to the student, consult with the family if possible, and then decide with the student whether a waiver is right for that student.

Use of the waiver must be documented in the student’s records, including how the student demonstrated preparation for plans after high school.

“Many of our state’s high school students, especially in the Class of 2021, are impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for reasons beyond their control,” board chair Peter Maier said.

“The waiver program is an extra tool school districts can use to help, tailored to what is best for each individual student.”

The emergency rules require school districts to collect and review data on the use of waivers and take appropriate steps to address any inequities. This data will be reported to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.

School districts may apply online to the SBE for the Emergency Waiver Program beginning in late March.

In some ways, the waiver is an extension of the temporary program created in 2020.

That year, 9,400 waivers were issued.

Of those, 6,700 were for waivers of graduation pathways requirements.

Cindy McMullen, a school board member at the Central Valley School District, said last week that 169 out of 996 graduating seniors in her district used the waiver last spring.

Though the district worked with those students to try to fulfill the normal requirements, “it simply wasn’t humanly possible,” McMullen said.