2410P: High School Graduation Requirements

 

A.    High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP)

The intent of the HSBP is to guide the student’s high school experience and inform course taking that is aligned to the student’s goals for education or training and career after high school. The HSBP must be updated in the sophomore year to inform junior year course taking.

All students will complete a High School and Beyond Plan The planning process begins in the spring of 8^th grade during classroom guidance activities. The High School and Beyond plan include specific course planning toward graduation, career and college goal setting, a personal interest inventory, and a resume.

If a student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP), the HSBP must be developed in alignment with their IEP. The HSBP must be updated in alignment with their school to post-school transition plan. Additionally, each student’s HSBP must include evidence that the student has received information about federal and state financial assistance for post-secondary education.

B.  Waiver of Community Service Hours and Minimum 2.0 Grade Point Average

There may be extenuating, unique and/or unusual circumstances that result in a situation where a student may not be able to complete the 40 Hour Community Service requirement. If any student and/or parent/guardian believe that there is such a circumstance, they may appeal the requirement and request a waiver. Students and/or parent/guardians may appeal by completing the 40 Hours of Community Service Request form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit E) and returning it to the appropriate school counselor.

The District expects all students to earn the necessary credits for graduation with a minimum of a 2.0 cumulative GPA. However, there may be extenuating, unique and/or unusual circumstances that result in less than a 2.0 cumulative GPA. If any student and/or parent/guardian believe that there is such a circumstance, they may appeal the requirement and request a waiver. Students and/or parent/guardians may appeal by completing the 2.0 Grade Point Average Waiver Request form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit D) and returning it to the appropriate counselor.

C.  Personal Pathway Requirements

Students who choose to complete art or world language credit through Personal Pathway Requirements options, must indicate which courses they plan to use to satisfy the art and/or world language requirements in their High School and Beyond Plan. Courses used as Personal Pathway options must lead to a specific post-high school career or educational outcome.

Students must complete the Personal Pathways Requirement Planning and Request Form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit G) and submit it to their counselor for approval.

D.    Credit Waiver for a Student’s Circumstances

A student, or a student's parent or guardian may request a waiver of up to two credits not required by state statute for a student’s circumstances that prevented the student from completing the required total 24 credits. A student’s circumstances shall include the following:

a)     The death of a parent, guardian, sibling or grandparent;

b)    An unexpected and/or severe medical condition. The condition must be documented by a medical professional and included with the application, within the constraints of the Health Insurance Portability and Act (HIPAA Accountability):

c)     An unexpected multi-day absence that was beyond the student’s control that was a barrier to course completion. Documentation of absence reason will need to be included with this application: or,

d)      Another unusual event of a similarly compelling magnitude

Students and/or parent/guardians may make a request by completing Credit Waiver Request for Student Circumstances form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit C) and returning it to the appropriate counselor.

E.    International Baccalaureate (IB)

Students who complete and pass all required IB diploma program courses scored at the local level: pass all internal assessments scored at a local level; successfully complete all required projects and products scored at a local level; and complete the final examinations administered by the IB Organization in each of the required subjects under the diploma program are considered to have fulfilled the requirements of the IB Diploma. Students may be considered to have satisfied state and BSD graduation requirements when:

a.     they transfer to Interlake High School from another IB program outside of the District and the completion of state and BSD credit requirements is a barrier to completing the IB Diploma.

b.     the completion of state or BSD credit requirements is a barrier to taking more than one IB course in a content area and/or to fulfill an IB Diploma requirement.  

Complete Credit Waiver Request for Student Circumstances form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit C) and return it to the appropriate counselor.

F.    Courses Subject Content Area Requirements

Courses that satisfy subject content area graduation requirements are determined by the Teaching and Learning Department, reviewed annually, and published in the Bellevue School District High School Course Catalog.

G.   Outside Learning Credit

Credit toward high school graduation may be granted for learning experiences outside the Bellevue School District from an accredited institution based on the following conditions:

a.     The learning experience meets BSD curriculum learning objectives.

b.     If the learning experience is for original credit, the grade will not be posted to the Bellevue School District transcript.

c.     If the learning experience is to replace a F, D or C grade, the lower grade will remain on the transcript however, the higher grade will be calculated for the GPA.

d.     Students must be scheduled in a minimum of six credits in the 11^th and 12^th grades and be fully scheduled (seven credits) in the 9^th and 10^th grades. Students must be fully enrolled in the BSD at the time of completion of the outside learning experience.

e.     Students have completed and submitted a Learning Experiences Outside the Bellevue School District form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit A).

f.      Approval for credit has been obtained prior to enrollment and/or participation in the outside learning experience to be eligible for consideration of high school credit on the BSD transcript. For learning experiences that take place in July and August, prior approval must be obtained by the last business day of June

Outside learning experiences include on-line courses approved by the Washington State Digital Learning Department and are subject to the conditions above.

H.   Waivers for Courses not Required by State Statute and Physical Education

Students and/or parent/guardians may request a waiver from a course not required by state statute or physical education because of physical disability, employment or religious belief or because of participation in military science and tactics by completing the Course Waiver Request form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit C) and returning it to the appropriate counselor. Students who waive physical education will be required to demonstrate proficiency/competency in the knowledge portion of the fitness requirement.

Students may earn 0.5 elective Physical Education credit for Directed Athletics by either participating in one season of WIAA or school board approved non-WIAA sports including cheerleading and drill, or by participating in at least 80 hours of approved community-based activity within 90 school days.

Students must complete, submit, and have approved, a School Sport for PE Credit Form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit B.1) or Community Based Activity for PE Credit Form (Exhibit B.2) within the academic year of involvement in the school sport or community-based activity. Specific requirements for school sports or community-based activities including the submission process are listed in each exhibit. Students must also demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge portion of the fitness requirement through an assessment that is administered nine times during each academic year. There is a nominal fee charged for this assessment.

I.      Publication of Graduation Requirements

Each student and his/her parents or guardians will be informed of the graduation requirements in effect for that student. Graduation requirements are included in the Bellevue School District middle and high school course catalogs.

J.     College Credit

High school credits from Washington state universities, colleges and technical schools may be awarded to juniors and seniors for courses taken through the Running Start, Tech Prep, and College in the High School programs. Conversion of college credits to high school credits are at the rate of one high school credit for five college quarter hour credits.

K.   Work Based Learning Credit

Work Based Learning is on-the-job experience that will enhance the academics and skills a student learned from a Career and Technical Education class. Students need to be enrolled in or have successfully completed a qualifying CTE class. Students must be at least 16 years of age. The work experience occurs after the school day and during the school year. For every 180 hours worked, a 0.5 credit will be awarded. Students may earn up to 1.0 credit during any school year.

L.    Competency Based Credit

Credit in world languages may be awarded for proficiency.

M.  Washington State History/Government and Civics Requirement

The Washington state history and government requirement are met during 7^th and 8^th grade social studies in the Bellevue School District. Students who transfer to the Bellevue School District after 8th grade, must complete the requirement by earning .5 credit by taking a high school course or completing the district-approved on-line alternative (non-credit). The requirement may be waived by the principal for students who: have successfully completed a state history and government course of study in another state; or are in eleventh or twelfth grade and who have not completed a course of study in Washington's history and state government because of previous residence outside the state.

The Washington state Civics requirement is that all students receive .5 credit in civics instruction that must be applied to course credit requirements in social studies required for graduation. In the BSD, this requirement is embedded in senior level social studies options of which students must choose one of either AP U.S. Government, AP Comparative Government or U.S. Government/Contemporary World Affairs

N.    High School Credit Prior to High School

For students who complete high school courses prior to high school, all credit-bearing courses with a passing grade will automatically be given high school credit and a grade that will be applied to fulfilling high school graduation requirements, unless requested otherwise by the student and/or the student's parent or guardian.

·       A student and/or a parent or guardian, may request that high school credit earned before high school be assigned a non-numerical grade. A non-numerical grade will be reported as “Credit” and will not be included in the student's high school grade point average calculation.

·       A student and/or parent or guardian may also request that the course and credit earned before high school to be completely removed from the transcript.

·       If student and/or parent or guardian does not want credit for the course(s) taken before attending high school or wants to request that credit be transcribed with a non-numerical grade, they must make their request to the school before completion of the 11th grade year.

Students and/or a parent or guardian must complete the Request to Remove Credit and/or Grade form (Procedure 2410P Exhibit J) to request a non-numerical grade or credit to be removed from the transcript.

O.   IB, AP and Cambridge International Course Credit

The law specifies that for ELA the following courses count as credit and satisfy the ELA state assessment requirement:

·       AP English Language and Composition

·       AP English Literature

·       AP African American Studies

·       AP Macroeconomics

·       AP Microeconomics

·       AP Psychology

·       AP US History

·       AP World History

·       AP US Government and Politics

·       AP Comparative Government

·       Any of the Individuals and Societies courses in the IB Catalog

The law specifies that for math, the following courses count as credit and satisfy the math state assessment requirement:

AP Statistics

·       AP Computer Science

·       AP Computer Science Principles

·       AP Calculus

·       Any of the mathematics courses with IB in the course title

The law does not specify specific Cambridge International courses beyond “English Language Arts and Mathematics.”

Students are not required to take the assessment(s) associated with the courses they enroll in to meet this pathway requirement. Students can either earn a grade of C+ or higher or score a 3 or higher on the AP exam or a 4 or higher on the IB exam.

Students are not required to take the assessment(s) associated with the courses they enroll in to meet this pathway requirement. Students can either earn a grade of C+ or higher or score a 3 or higher on the AP exam or a 4 or higher on the IB exam.

P.    Graduation Ceremonies

Each school coordinates its own graduation ceremony. Students must have met graduation requirements in order to participate. Any student receiving special education or related services and who will continue to receive such services between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two will be eligible participate in the graduation ceremony and activities after four years of high school attendance with his or her age-appropriate peers and receive a certificate of attendance.

In addition, inherent rights assured through tribal sovereignty requires that schools and school districts allow American Indian and Alaska Native students to wear traditional tribal regalia and objects of cultural significance at graduation ceremonies and related events.

Q. Summer School Credit and Credit Recovery

The High School Summer Program (9-12) provides students with an opportunity to earn up to 1.0 credit of credit recovery. If the summer course is to improve a grade, the lower grade will remain on the transcript, however the higher grade will be calculated for the GPA. All coursework and exams must be completed by the last day of the summer school program to be considered in the final grade. Daily student attendance is mandatory.

R. Substitution Credit for Students Receiving Special Education Services

In limited circumstances when determined necessary by the individualized education program team due to the unique needs resulting from the student’s disability, a graduation credit and subject area requirement may be substituted with comparable content course work as identified in the individualized education plan (IEP) and aligned with the student’s High School and Beyond Plan. Determinations for credit substitution need to be recorded by completing Procedure 2410P Exhibit K.