On the OSPI website, I found this statement (originally posted at the start of the school year):

“The continuation of the COVID-19 public health crisis has meant that many school districts are re-opening using either a fully remote or hybrid learning model.  However, there are currently no additional credit flexibility or waiver options for the Class of 2021 graduation requirements like those used for the Class of 2020.”

As the legislature reconvenes in January and as other policy-making bodies weigh the second half of this unprecedented school year, I hope that flexibility around graduation credits for the class of 2021 gets swift and decisive attention.

Specifically, I believe that individual high schools should be granted complete discretion to waive up to two credits, no questions asked even for core classes, with the opportunity to apply for individual waivers of up to an additional four more credits for students who faced particular identifiable challenges during remote and hybrid learning. Yes, that is six credits: An entire school year. On top of that, waive all other non-credit-count requirements associated with graduation pathways. Put an asterisk on their certificate if it makes you feel better, but grant the diploma.

It is the humane thing to do.

A no point in the history of our nation has the convergence of economic, social, political, and public health crises matched what we presently experience. When we have faced school closures or interruptions (1918-1919, for example), the world and workforce into which students were transitioning was far different. The other era to which 2020 has been compared is World War II, though I think that’s an apples and oranges comparison as well… even in the 1940s and 1950s, it was not unheard of for people without high school diplomas to be able to reasonably support a family on a living wage.

Yes, I do believe a diploma needs to “mean something.” This blog post was inspired, in part, by a twitter debate I was lurking on where educators and parents were arguing about giving students failing grades during the pandemic. On one side (my side), were those of us calling for the re-calibration of what school even means: is it about seat time and credits or is it about learning and progress…particularly during the present mess? On the other side: one person actually said “if there are no Fs, then what good is my A?” (I had to close the web browser and walk away at that point.)

Does that mean a diploma only has value if it is withheld from some people? Hardly. There are kids in my classes who are doing every single thing I’m asking them to do: They are going to not only pass my class, but earn a genuine A. And that achievement is an Achievement regardless of whether some other student gets an F or not. For whatever reason, be it personal financial security, support systems for physical and mental health, a home life that routinizes remote learning, or sheer determination, there are certainly kids who will cross the (perhaps virtual) stage in June with their required 24+ credits.

And then I think about others of my students, here on the cusp of “adulthood.” There’s the student who ended their junior year with a 3.6+ GPA, but spent most of their senior year homeless as a result of the COVID economic downturn. And there’s the student whose parents both are essential workers, so this student lives in constant anxiety about their parents’ health and survival…straight Bs junior year have turned to not a single passing grade senior year. And then there’s the student who is now the de facto parent to several siblings while mom works from a cramped closet home-office. And then… And then…

To me, the modern diploma is an economic door opener. As has been said ad nauseam, these are unprecedented times. I cannot, in good conscience, justify denying a student a diploma (particularly if they were already on track toward successful graduation) because of global health and economic conditions that are beyond their control in every conceivable way… most high school seniors aren’t even old enough to vote, after all. It is the grown-ups who have failed.

We owe these kids some grace. Denying the COVID class of 2021 diplomas because we want to hang on to some mirage of accountability is not a valid cause when we consider the long term economic and social impact that such an action will have upon the entire rest of their lives.