Individualized graduation plan proposal being presented to CUSD trustees this week
A proposal to temporarily change the credit requirements to graduate is up for discussion at the Cloverdale school board meeting on Feb. 17. The proposal, which seeks to develop graduation plans for seniors who are at risk of not graduating, is supposed to be a lifeline for Cloverdale High School (CHS) and Johanna Echols-Hansen Continuation High School (JEH) seniors who are having difficulty in their classes following a year of distance learning.
Around the middle of fall, high schools around the county — Cloverdale included — realized that F and D grades had dramatically increased among students. The discovery led to a convening of high school principals to try and problem solve the issue.
To help try and remedy the increase in failing grades, CHS implemented a new distance learning schedule for students starting in January. While the new schedule seems to be working better for students and families, in many cases the damage of prolonged distance learning and declining grades has already taken a toll on students’ credits.
The proposal being presented to the board on Wednesday suggests that, for students at risk for not graduating, an individualized graduation plan (IGP) be established based on each student’s credits toward graduation and post-secondary goals, “with the expectation that students will, at minimum, meet one of three graduation benchmarks established by the IGP, meeting or exceeding the state minimum graduation requirements,” according to the proposed addition to the CUSD board’s policy on high school graduation requirements. The addition only applies to the 2020-21 school year.
The proposal was first discussed at a Cloverdale Unified School District (CUSD) Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 20, during which CHS Principal Christopher Meredith said that the projected graduation rate for the CHS Class of 2021 if the district doesn’t do something is 54% — a significant departure from the 87% graduation rate in 2019 and 91% graduation rate in 2020.
The high graduation rate in 2020 was primarily made possible by students being held harmless during their last semester of school, the first leg of the pandemic, Meredith said.
In his January presentation to the school board, Meredith said that 12 CHS seniors (13% of all seniors) are deficient by 51 or more credits, four (4%) have a credit deficit of 31-50, 10 (10%) are deficient by 11-30 credits and 18 (19%) are deficient by 10 or less credits.
For JEH, the projected Class of 2021 graduation rate without intervention is 18%, with three of 12 seniors on track to graduate in 2021. According to his presentation, 13 JEH seniors would qualify for an IGP. The 2020 JEH graduation rate was 58%.
“We want to think about the long-term effects of a senior not graduating and how that can impact their future and future success in trying to be contributing members of our community, knowing how tough it is to survive in Sonoma County and California. That is a springboard to their success and so we’re really concerned about some seniors that may not graduate,” Meredith said.
Currently, the CUSD requires students to have 238 credits to graduate and to have completed 60 community service hours.
The three options presented in the proposed IGP paperwork include a 190-credit diploma, which means that the student will meet the California high school graduation requirement and all minimum requirements to be eligible to attend University of California or California State University schools; a 160-credit diploma, which meets the California high school graduation requirement; and a 130-credit diploma, which meets the California high school graduation requirement (130 is the minimum credit requirement for the state). All three of those options also contain a separate category for possibly completing less than 60 hours of service learning. A fourth proposed option only addresses a student possibly completing less than 60 hours of service learning.
In his presentation to the board, Meredith said that the IGP with the 130-credit requirement will be used for credit deficient students at JEH, with the goal of having the 190-credit and 160-credit available to credit deficient students at CHS.
During the January meeting, Superintendent Betha MacClain said that while sitting in on attendance meetings for students who have been deemed truant highlighted just how many irremovable barriers students are dealing with.
“Almost all the students that we met with are dual language learners, almost all of them are caring for younger siblings, almost all of them have had barriers with technology even though we’re providing WiFi and devices — connectivity issues that have affected their ability to stay in class — that really affected my view,” she said. “I really heard directly from our students the various things they’re doing, and they’re still showing up and they’re still doing their work.”
If approved, students who are at risk for not graduating will be identified by school staff.
“We don’t want to derail anyone who is achieving success,” Meredith said. “We want to preserve the merit of our diploma and promote the highest level of credit completion for all students, first and foremost. When I say ‘identify candidates,’ we start with students who are credit deficient and we look at students who are on-pace to earn 238 and we work our way backward.”
From there, the school will convene meetings with students and parents about developing an IGP that fits best with their goals and with their credit situation.
Meredith said that they know who’s at risk of not graduating based on their credit deficiencies, but that school administration is hopeful that some students can get back on track through credit recovery work and through the newly-adopted school schedule change.
“What we don’t want to do is see this pandemic hijack a student’s opportunity to be successful in their future endeavors beyond post-secondary high school,” he said.
The board is scheduled to take action on the plan at its meeting on Feb. 17. If approved, Meredith said that the high school will move to begin conducting IGP meetings at the beginning of the B quarter so students have the opportunity to achieve the highest level of credit completion possible.
“And if students meet a graduation requirement that’s below, they need to continue attending classes throughout the B quarter,” he said.
