CITYWIDE — High school seniors with disabilities who have not passed the state’s exit exam will still receive their diplomas under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The temporary reprieve only applies to roughly 4,000 students statewide who are enrolled in special education classes and are on track to graduate this year. All other students must pass both portions of the California High School Exit Exam, a test pegged to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade levels in math, and ninth- and 10th-grade levels in English.
While the number of students affected here is small compared to neighboring districts, anxiety over passing the test is still high given the large proportion — nearly two-thirds in the state — of special education students who fail either one or both portions of the test.
“Santa Monica is ahead of the curve … so I don’t expect this to affect very many students,” said Tim Walker, assistant superintendent for special education in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. “We have a high percentage of students passing the exam, but obviously this comes as a relief to families who already have so much going on with graduation, college applications.”
To qualify for the exemption, special education students must have failed the test at least twice since the 10th grade and must then have been provided remedial instruction to help them pass. The class of 2006 is the first in California to be required to pass the exam.
Advocates for special education said the bill’s passage, while a relief, is a direct result of students not having the tools necessary to pass the exam.
“When only one-third of high-school seniors with disabilities have passed the exit exam, yet are succeeding in every other way, we have to ask if this exam is the appropriate final checkpoint for graduation,” said State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles), who sponsored the bill, SB 517.
In the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Districts, special education students will have an easier time passing the test next year. Walker said the board passed a resolution allowing special education students the opportunity to use modifications to the test not allowed by the state. If students can pass the exam with the extra help, they are guaranteed a diploma by the district, which waves state regulations banning test modifiers.
