Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor On Tuesday, April 30th the Mount Pleasant Community School District Board of Directors met in a special session to discuss and approve several changes to the district’s graduation requirements and grading policies under the current statewide Convid-19 lockdown. Graduation Requirements The board approved a measure that adapted the graduation requirements for MPCHS class of 2020 seniors and those students eligible to graduate this year. This measure follows the Iowa Department of Education’s guidance and Governor Kim Reynolds emergency declaration. The governor has declared that state graduation requirements are being waived for the class of 2020, and has left the decision up to local districts if seniors have met their requirements to receive a diploma. In recent weeks the Iowa Department of Education has stated that school districts should help seniors as much as they can. The measure reads in part that “All students in the Class of 2020 Four-Year Graduation Cohort, and previous Graduation Cohorts, who have successfully completed, or are enrolled in courses needed for graduation, will be deemed to have met the requirements for graduation.” The measure that was passed unanimously by the board. The measure goes on to explain that if students were on track for graduation as of the March 13th cancellation, then they will graduate this year. This includes students who are 5th-year seniors or more and includes current students enrolled at Wisdom Quest. For example, if a student has earned all 48 credits and has completed or was enrolled in all required classes during their second-semester schedule, then they will most likely graduate this year. The district is expected to release the names of graduates soon. “We want to let families and students know who is graduating and who isn’t so that if they want to appeal they can,” said Superintendent John Henriksen. If a student is labeled as not eligible for graduation this year, they can appeal to a special graduation board. To appeal they must respond, in writing, and mail their appeal to the superintendent (John Henriksen) within 5 days of the release of the names. The superintendent will then assemble a special committee consisting of a high school administrator, a guidance counselor, and one teacher to see if there is any merit before making a final decision. Changes in the District’s Grading Policy The district also announced changes in it’s grading policy for all grades. These changes reflect a school year shortened by the coronavirus outbreak. All grades for every student in the district will be based on work completed, submitted, or due before March 13th, 2020. The guidelines listed below apply to second-semester grades of the 2019-2020 school year. All options can be made as a whole or applied to individual courses for students 6-12. For seniors, there are two grading options to choose from:
Grades 9th-11th have three choices for their grading scale:
Grades 6th-8th they will follow similar measures to grades 9-11. Although like the seniors they do not have a withdrawal option. Grades PreK through 5th grade; teachers will assign a 0-3 with 0 meaning little accomplished and 3 being fully accomplished. This will be used in the normal standards-based report cards. For standards that teachers cover in the fourth quarter which students will not be taught, they will receive a NA or Not Assessed. All standards that receive a NA will have to be covered in the following years according to Iowa Common Core standards. Other News The MPCSD School Board also approved to continue their pandemic pay resolution, continuing the payment of contracted and hourly employees through May 29th. According to Mr. Henriksen, this mimics what other area districts are doing.
The school board will hold their regular meeting May 11th, where they will discuss more the effects on the district and come up with more plans on what they need to accomplish before the end of the school year. To read more about tentative graduation plans visit our social media or visit us at maroonechoesnew.weebly.com for more!
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