FILE:  IKDB

Cf:  IHF

GRADUATION

The Catahoula Parish School Board has adopted the Requirements for High School Graduation set forth in Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, Bulletin 741, Louisiana Department of Education.  Students shall be allowed to graduate from high school when they have completed the required number of units and attained the required scores on the End-of-Course State Test requirements.  Special Education students must meet all program requirements to receive a Certificate of Completion and participate in graduation exercises.  Students who receive their diploma as a result of taking the GED or HiSet test will not be eligible to participate in the commencement exercise.

Students who fail to meet all requirements as prescribed by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) shall not participate in graduation ceremonies.  This policy provision shall be strictly enforced by all schools in the district.

All high schools will hold only one (1) graduation exercise per school year.  Dates for each school's graduation exercise shall be announced at the beginning of the school year on the official district calendar.

It is the policy of the Catahoula Parish School Board that full participation in the graduation exercise is a privilege and not a right for the individual student and his or her parents.  Any graduating student who is found guilty of any act which constitutes grounds for suspension or expulsion after having met the academic requirements for graduation may be denied the right to receive his or her diploma at or participate in formal graduation exercises and in lieu thereof, be given his or her diploma in private.

EARLY GRADUATION

The Catahoula Parish School Board acknowledges that some students seek to pursue educational goals that include graduation from high school at an earlier date than their designated class.  In order for students to be considered for early graduation, they must meet with their principal no later than October 1st of the academic year in which they proposed to graduate.  Request for early graduation shall be honored if all conditions and requirements for high school graduation are met.  A student who completes the conditions and requirements for early high school graduation shall participate in graduation exercises as a member of the class graduating in the year in which he or she completes the conditions and requirements for high school graduation.

Graduation Honors

In addition to any requirements mandated by the State, to be eligible for valedictorian or salutatorian of a graduating class, a student must meet the following criteria:

1. For the Class of 2018 and beyond, having successfully pursued a University Diploma.

2. Have been enrolled in the high school from which he or she is graduating the preceding four (4) complete semesters.

3. Foreign exchange students shall not be considered for valedictorian or salutatorian.

4. Correspondence courses, Home Study Courses, and Drivers Education will not be recognized in meeting requirements.  District Initial Credit Course offerings shall be used in meeting requirements.

5. Repeat Credit courses will not be recognized in meeting requirements.

6. Early graduates shall be considered for graduation honors.

CLASS RANKINGS

Actual final numerical grades shall be used to determine the valedictorian and salutatorian.  Final grades shall be averaged to determine ranking of the students in the class.  This ranking shall include students that are early graduates.  Physical Education, Drivers Education and Health Education shall be excluded in determining the numerical grade point average.  The final average to determine the rank of each student shall be computed to four (4) decimal places.

High School Classification

Revised:  July 1, 2014

Revised:  August 9, 2016

Revised:  June 5, 2018

Ref:    La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:81

Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, Bulletin 741, Louisiana Department of Education

Board minutes, 7-1-14, 8-9-16, 6-5-18

Catahoula Parish School Board