Seniors will graduate, Peninsula’s high schools vow, one way or another

The seniors of Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools will graduate, the district says. It’s just that no one knows yet exactly how or when.

A tradition cap-and-gown graduation of hundreds of seniors at the same time is probably not going to happen, said interim superintendent Dr. Art Jarvis.

But other ideas are being kicked around — ranging from a “virtual graduation” on Zoom to a car parade, to a “rolling graduation,” of small groups at a time.

“I’m working with the high school principles, staff and the school board to come up with a solution,” Jarvis said. School board President Deb Krishnadasan is chairing a committee working on the problem.

Seniors in the Peninsula School District have already taken the required state tests, done their college applications and finished three-quarters of their coursework, noted Dr. Joe Potts, the principal at Peninsula high.

“In fact, they have finished 95 percent of their K-12 education,” he said, and many of them are already hearing from their colleges of choice.

Pass-Fail grades

If students were passing at the time of March 13 closure, they will graduate, Potts said. They will get a grade of “P” or pass, for classes not completed, and can petition their principal for a letter grade if they wish.

One problem with a “P” grade, said Jarvis, is that “some colleges interpret a pass as a “D” — in fact, the NCAA does exactly that.”

So the district is allowing students to petition their principal for a letter grade based on their completed work.

“If a senior has had straight As, and she wanted those grades on her transcript, she could petition for a letter grade,” said Potts. “The principal would make that decision based on information from her teachers about her previous work.”

If a student was not passing on March 13, he or she will still have a chance to get a pass, either by demonstrating competency in the subject — fluency in Spanish, for instance — by completing an assigned project, or by retaking exams.

“If you were not passing, the default is a no-credit,” Potts said. “But you still have time to make up assignments, retake tests, complete projects There is still great hope for anyone who really wants to work hard.”

The sacred seventeen

The state requires seniors to have completed 17 core credits in language and math — the so-called “sacred seventeen.”

Peninsula High School’s six counselors — and their counterparts at Gig Harbor High School — have been tracking each senior to make sure they have the required credits. Each counselor handles a caseload of about 50 students.

“The counselors are doing a magnificent job of tracking each of our 341 seniors and making sure we have a precise understanding of where everyone stands,” Potts said.

For various reasons, the shutdown may have caught some students just shy of 17 credits.

“Let’s say a student was in a work-study program, but now he job is no long available because the business is closed,” said Potts. “Or someone was in an online credit program through Brigham Young or another university, and the closure of that campus has disrupted that program.”

There are ways a student can make up the missing credit, he said.

Jarvis said counselors have been asked to “be creative” about coming up with ways to make up credits by arrangement between teachers and students.

Waivers discouraged

While the state Board of Education last week approved a measure that would allow districts to waive a core credit because of the emergency, Jarvis said the district would prefer that students complete the core.

“We want our students to work hard and earn a passing grade,” said Potts. “We want them to be college and career ready, skilled and confident in their knowledge.”

There will be some, Potts acknowledged, who want to coast.

“It’s springtime,” said the principal. “I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be a challenge to keep them engaged and motivated. Still, there are a whole bunch of kids showing up online every day. We have a lot of great kids, and they’re going to succeed.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 12:00 AM.