San Diego school board members voted to close a loophole in program that allowed failing eighth grade students to move on to high school. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
A large number of eighth grade students who flunked one or more classes last year moved on to a special high school intervention program because their parents signed a wavier which was automatically approved. But the school board put an end to that practice. Schools now have to review each wavier thoroughly and then decide if that students should be held back another year or they should enroll in a special intervention program in high school.
School trustee Sheila Jackson cast the only dissenting vote. She believes parents should have the final say.
Jackson: My concern again, is this policy takes parents out of the equation, and the parents need to be in. They need to be in.
But the other school board members and school administrators believe the changes will ensure students are academically prepared to move on to the ninth grade -- helping to curb the so-called practice of social promotion.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
