Now that passing the MCAS test is no longer a requirement to graduate from Massachusetts high schools, officials in Fall River will retroactively award diplomas to students who met every other graduation requirement.
A state ballot measure last year eliminated the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System or MCAS test as a graduation requirement, so city and school officials in Fall River decided it was only fair to apply the new standard retroactively.
“Through the years, a lot of kids would meet all the local requirements, but they couldn’t pass the MCAS -- particularly the math MCAS test,” said mayor, Paul Coogan, who used to be a vice principal at Fall River’s B.M.C. Durfee High School. “So they wouldn’t get a diploma. They’d get a certificate of completion.”
And that’s not the same as getting a diploma.
Coogan said he recently heard from a student who ran into difficulty with an employer over the issue.
“When she got the job, she checked off 'high school diploma.’ She actually had a certificate of completion. And they ended up going back [to her] and saying that she was not accurate on her application.”
The lack of an official diploma can also be a barrier for students applying to higher education programs, Coogan said.
Just last year, 49 students in Fall River — about eight percent of the senior class — completed the necessary coursework to graduate but did not receive a diploma because they didn’t pass the MCAS test.
Coogan said he doesn’t know how many Fall River students were denied diplomas because of MCAS since the test became a graduation requirement in 2003. But he said officials will review school records and proactively reach out to students who now qualify.
The hard part, he said, may be finding them.
“They’re moving, and they’re changing their name, and they’re getting, married and they’ve gotten divorced and they’ve moved on,” he said. “We’re going to make our best effort. And that’s all we can do.”
The city is also considering hosting a graduation ceremony to belatedly award those diplomas, he said.
In a social media post last week , the city invited former students from across two decades to request a review of their transcript..
School Committee member Collin Dias said the decision was about fairness.
“The vote that we’ve taken was the right thing to do,” Dias said. “And I think this is going to have a positive impact on many in this community.”
Dias said he hopes the idea spreads and that Fall River’s actions inspire other cities and towns throughout the state to do the same.
