By the end of last school year, about 83 percent of the Class of 2009 had met the requirements, but there were still at least 4,000 students who had not taken one or more of the tests. Many of the students who fit the category, school system officials said, were immigrants who had limited proficiency in the English language and were now taking English II. Some parents argued that if those students took the HSA in May and failed, they would not have time to get the remedial help that is promised all students.
About 17 percent of the class, or about 9, 000 students, hadn't met the requirement according to data released in October. Only 15 percent of immigrants who are learning English had passed. About half of special education students and about 70 percent of African-Americans statewide had passed.
The board voted in October to hold fast to a requirement that students to pass end-of-year exams in four courses taken during high school: American government, biology, 10th-grade English and Algebra I.
