47 students eligible after state suspends exit exam
Published in the January 20 – February 2, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Photo courtesy MHUSD
Morgan Hill Unified School District trustee Donna Ruebusch and new Central High School graduate Olga Israde. She was Ruebusch’s student in 9th and 10th-grade year.
When the state suspended the required California High School Exit Examination in July of last year, it left many high school students who had completed all of their requirements in limbo without a chance to pass the state test.
The Morgan Hill Unified School District held a special graduation ceremony Jan. 6 for 14 of the 47 students eligible to graduate.
“Today is a page in your book entitled opportunity,” said Superintendent Steve Betando in his commencement speech. “This is your ticket to open up your continued education in a four-year college, or the ability to get a job that requires a diploma. You can graduate on to further success.”
More than 100 family members and friends attended the graduation to show their support of the new graduates. Cheers and applause filled Live Oak High School’s theater as graduates crossed the stage to receive their diplomas. Board of trustee members Bob Benevento, Ron Woolf and Donna Ruebusch also took part in the ceremony to congratulate the newest MHUSD graduates and wish them luck on the opportunities that lie ahead.
“All of our graduates fulfilled their graduation requirements set forth by MHUSD, and we are elated that they are now able to receive their rightfully earned diplomas and take on the next adventure in their lives,” said Betando after the ceremony.
The CAHSEE was created by the California Department of Education more than a decade ago to have a state exam that was linked to the state’s academic content standards. Since the adoption of Common Core by the State of California, the test is no longer in-line with those standards. As a result, bills were passed eliminating the test and retroactively awarding diplomas.
