Beginning with Class of 2015 - High School Exit Exam (HSAP) Not Required to Receive Diploma
Students from Previous Years Who Did Not Earn Diploma Due to Not Passing HSAP Can Appeal for Diploma; Procedures to be Announced This Summer
Beginning with the Graduating Class of 2015, students will no longer be required to pass the state’s high school exit exam (HSAP) to earn a South Carolina diploma. The HSAP exam, used since 2006, will be administered for the last time during summer 2014 to this year’s seniors who have not passed the exit exam.
Also, beginning late summer 2014, persons no longer enrolled in a public school who failed to receive a diploma because they did not pass the HSAP exam can appeal to the local school board for a diploma. Procedures will be announced this summer.
The State Department of Education is developing regulations for appeals. Following receipt of the State regulations, District procedures to file appeals will be developed and provided to schools and promoted through the media and the district’s website and social media sites. Appeals will be accepted through December 2015.
Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, 11th graders will be required to take two tests. Passage is not required to receive a high school diploma. One test will be ACT WorkKeys, which awards job-skills credentials that students can provide to employers. The other, which has not been selected, will test for college readiness. No information is available regarding how these tests will apply to the state’s accountability standards for schools.
Elimination of the HSAP exam passage requirement will also impact the district’s early dismissal policy for students. Until the requirement to pass the exit exam is eliminated from policy, early dismissal is only applicable to those students who have passed the HSAP exam.