For 208 Lakeside High seniors, commencement but delayed diplomas
Will they or won’t they?
At Lakeside High School in DeKalb County, 208 seniors face the possibility of attending commencement this weekend, but not really graduating.
Why? Because they were given a state exam by pencil and paper rather than online, and that error has delayed the return of their scores. Georgia now counts Milestones End of Course test scores as 20 percent of a student’s grade, so DeKalb cannot issue final transcripts to those affected students until it gets the scores.
In a letter to parents, the school district wrote: “What is unique in this situation is that your child will be allowed to participate in graduation exercises if the results from the paper/pencil assessment are not returned prior to the ceremonies. All elements associated with graduation status still apply and will be finalized when transcripts and student records are provided to the state on June 15, 2016.”
To read more, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.
About the Author
Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.
