By Jennifer Moody, Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Thursday, November 5, 2009 11:45 pm
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LEBANON - Lebanon school board members voted 4-1 Thursday to end a
requirement that current juniors and seniors pass eighth-grade
state assessment tests before receiving diplomas.
Board members also voted unanimously to transfer a fifth counselor
to Lebanon High School to help students make the transition to
tougher graduation requirements coming from the state in 2012. The
move leaves one counselor districtwide for all students in
kindergarten through eighth grade.
Board member Liz Alperin voted no on the second reading of the
graduation requirement policy. She also voted no last month when
the policy had its first reading.
"I wanted some indication that our seniors were leaving the high
school with at least an eighth-grade proficiency in reading and
math to survive in the world," she said.
But other board members agreed with the district's recommendation
to drop the policy requiring a passing score on eighth-grade tests
in reading, writing and math.
Time is running out for the upperclassmen, and resources need to be
concentrated on the younger students, Hess said. Beginning in 2012,
all public-school graduates statewide must pass state tests at the
10th-grade level or provide other proof they can meet those
standards before receiving a diploma.
Board members agreed to transfer Seven Oak Middle School counselor
Karen SIckles to the high school to help with the change. The
transfer gives the high school one counselor for each grade level
and allows a fifth to concentrate on the college credit program,
Beyond LHS.
Lebanon is the only mid-valley district to have set a test score as
a condition of a diploma. Although the district has no firm
numbers, both board members and district officials have said they
know families who left the Lebanon district because the standard
was too high.
Some students at Lebanon High School have no record of having taken
the eighth-grade tests, while others transferred in after the tests
were given. Hess told board members in October that 40 of the 260
seniors had not met at least one test score standard and another 57
had no score recorded.
