Seniors size up the exit exam

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s 12th-graders are still inching toward passing the California High School Exit Exam, as state results this week showed that 90 seniors in the district have yet to complete the test.

With graduation to take place later this month, Newport-Mesa seniors will not have another chance to take the exam before the ceremonies. The scores that came back this week were from the March testing dates, and the district will next offer the exam in July.

According to assessment director Peggy Anatol, 42 of the remaining seniors are in special education and, through a state Senate bill that passed earlier this year, possibly eligible to walk at graduation without passing the test. Forty-two English-learner students and six students who are neither disabled nor English-learners will not be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies.

“I wanted every student to graduate, so even one or two or three students is serious to me, but the students have had six opportunities to take the test,” Anatol said. “We’ve offered remediation courses in the fall and spring, and at this point, some of these students ? especially the English-learners ? just need more English experience.”

Regular-education students who have not passed the exit exam have several options. Many will likely return for summer school and take the July test, while others may repeat a year of high school, enroll in community college or enter adult education.

Special-education students have a possible reprieve from the test, thanks to a January Senate bill that permitted them to graduate without passing the exit exam, provided that they met other criteria. With graduation two weeks away, Newport-Mesa’s high-school counselors are reviewing students’ records to determine whether they make the grade.

For many students, the exit exam is not the only remaining barrier to graduation, according to Newport Harbor High School assistant principal Robert Cunard.

“We’re fortunate right now in that we really only have a very, very small number [of seniors who haven’t passed the test],” Cunard said. “What we do is meet with them individually ? counselor, student and family ? and review their situation. In our instance, what we’re finding is that our students who haven’t been able to pass the exam are still not eligible to graduate from high school because they haven’t earned enough credits.”

Doug Volding, the test coordinator at Corona del Mar High School, said his campus had only two special-needs students still to pass the exam. He expected them both to succeed in July.

“The last two are so close, they’ll get it next time,” Volding said.

Last month, it appeared briefly that all students in this year’s graduating class would be excused from the exit exam, as an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled that the test discriminated against poor and minority students.

However, the state Supreme Court has since stayed the ruling. Newport-Mesa Supt. Robert Barbot had said that his district would continue to treat the exam as a graduation requirement.