The Hawaii State Board of Education Thursday afternoon unanimously approved a request to modify graduation requirements for the Class of 2020. View the request here.

Hawaii State Department of Education Superintendent Christina Kishimoto said more details about the plan will be released to public school officials on Monday, and to the public after that.

She said the graduation requirement guidance will include information about GPAs, early college credits, CTE programs, Seal of Biliteracy, honors diplomas, Advanced Placement testing, and block-scheduled school considerations.

Thursday’s decision means that about 10,000 public high school seniors who are on track to graduate will be able to do so on time. Another 1,000 or so students are not on track to graduate, and Kishimoto says guidance released next week will include ways for educators to work with students to ensure they can graduate, if possible.

“We remain committed to supporting students who have fallen short of these expectations,” Kishimoto told the board.

There are currently 11,183 seniors, with approximately 90 percent eligible to graduate on time based on third-quarter grades, which are still being processed. The department is starting to identify and categorize students into four bands to provide necessary supports.

  • Band 1: Students who are on track based on third quarter grades will receive a diploma. Enrichment and learning opportunities will continue to ensure they are ready for career, military and post-secondary opportunities.
  • Band 2: Students who are not meeting proficiency based on their third quarter grades. They are targeted for intervention and remediation to help them graduate on time.
  • Band 3: Students who are not meeting proficiency based on third quarter grades and are unable to achieve proficiency during the fourth quarter time period. Supports being proposed include providing summer school or E-School options.
  • Band 4: Students who were failing by the end of the first semester and are unable to achieve proficiency during the fourth quarter and with summer options.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association is following up with the department to get greater clarification about these plans, especially as it relates to students who are not yet meeting proficiency for graduation, and the expectations of teachers related to those students.

“Our priority from the start of this crisis has been our students, staff and their families. Developing this plan was a heavy lift by school and complex leaders and was done so with guidance from our federal, state and county partners,” said Kishimoto. “This waiver does not relax our standards. It provides the flexibility to ensure our eligible seniors graduate on time and smoothly transition to their chosen path after high school.”

School facilities are closed through at least April 30 with state- and county-level stay-at-home orders aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.

Kishimoto said schools will lose 27 instructional days through April 30, and if closures are extended through the end of the school year, students will lose 47 instructional days.

Five other states have canceled school for the rest of the school year, she added.

The department says it will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and make a decision by April 15 regarding commencement ceremonies. School, complex area and state teams have started discussing alternative means of celebration in the event traditional ceremonies cannot be held.

Also Thursday, the board unanimously voted to approve the department’s waiver request to cancel federally required statewide standardized assessments for the 2019–20 school year. This includes Smarter Balanced Assessments for English language arts/literacy and mathematics, Hawaii State Science Assessments, end of course exams; Hawaii State Alternate Assessments; and the Kaiapuni Assessment Educational Outcomes (KĀʻEO).

The public can submit comments until April 10 regarding this waiver through an online survey here.

Information from an HIDOE news release was included in this post. View the full release here.