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Highlands Today

GED remains an option for high school students

Marc Valero/Highlands Today

From left: Sebring High School teacher Detrice Smith assists senior Scott Schlenkert as senior Stephen Boyd studies Friday in a GED Exit Option class. For a time prior to the start of the school year, school districts believed the Florida Department of Education was eliminating the program for students who have fallen behind on the traditional track to earn a high school diploma.

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: September 7, 2009

Updated:

SEBRING - Despite some confusion caused by the Florida Department of Education recently, the GED Exit Option continues to be available for students who have fallen behind in meeting graduation requirements.

But this is the last school year students will earn a standard diploma if they successfully complete the GED (General Educational Development) program.

Secondary Programs Director Ruth Heckman said the juniors in the program know they will not get a Lake Placid, Sebring or Avon Park high school diploma; it will be a state of Florida equivalency diploma.

The number of students in the program (typically 75 to 100) is down a little bit this year because of the scare at the beginning of the school year, she said.

Heckman was referring to a Florida Department of Education (FDOE) memo dated July 1 that stated the GED Exit Option would no longer be available to students in Florida, effective Aug. 1, 2009.

But the FDOE appeared to reverse the decision about two weeks later.

An Aug. 12 FDOE memo stated the GED Exit Option remains a viable drop-out prevention strategy in Florida.

Effective for students entering the GED Exit Option beginning in 2009-10 school year, the successful completion of the program will result in the award of a state of Florida High School Equivalency Diploma, according to the FDOE.

According to the Florida Statute, the equivalency diploma will have equal status with other high school diplomas for all state purposes, including admission to any state university or community college.

FDOE information specialist Cheryl Etters told Highlands Today that poor wording in the original memo led to the misrepresentation that the GED Exit Option could not be offered anymore.

The memo tried to convey that by law the state cannot grant a standard high school diploma to students who do not meet the minimum graduation standards - a minimum grade point average of 2.0, 24 credits in core courses and passage of FCAT reading and math, she said.

Sebring High School Principal Toni Stivender said the program gives students an option to earn a diploma instead of dropping out of school.

"Over the years, both at Lake Placid and Sebring high schools, I've seen it be very successful for a number of students because it gives them an alternative," she said.

Heckman said the school district is concerned that, starting in 2010-11, the students who earn a diploma through the GED Exit Option won't count toward a school's graduation rate, which is a component in the new school grading system.

Highlands Today reporter Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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