For all high school courses that are semester courses, the semester final examination will be either a district-developed common assessment or a teacher-developed assessment.

For all high school courses that are year-long courses and that do not have a state required end of course (EOC) assessment, the semester 2 final examination may be a district-developed common assessment or a teacher-developed assessment.

• Each year, by the first day of the new school year, the Teaching and Learning Division will identify and provide schools, teachers, parents and students a list of district-developed common assessments that will be implemented that year as either semester exams (for semester courses) or semester 2 final exams for year-long courses.

In the event a student is unable to take an examination at the given time because of a legitimate absence through illness or some other serious reason, the student shall be given an opportunity to make up the examination without penalty of any kind.

Students who have a course grade of "A" or "B" in the 1st quarter and a provisional course grade of “A” or “B” in the first seven weeks of the 2nd quarter are not required to take the final exam in that course. Except for second semester seniors, this provision shall apply to no more than three courses each semester. The student must maintain the “A” or “B” grade through the remainder of the 2nd quarter.

The Guidance Office will distribute Exam Exemption Forms. Students will need to gather provisional grades and signatures from teachers. Student grades will be checked for eligibility. Teachers will be provided a list of students who have applied and are eligible.

Please see the Final Exam Eligibility Flowchart for additional information.

Exceptions:

• The student is enrolled in the same course during two (2) semesters of the same school year (a year-long course). In such cases, the student is required to take at least one (1) final exam in that course, for semester 1 or semester 2.

• The student has been enrolled in a District public high school for less than the entire term. In such cases, the student is required to take all exams.

• The student has five (5) or more absences per semester in any class. If so, the student is required to take the final exam in all classes. Regardless of the number of minutes in a class period, an absence from the class is only counted as one (1) absence in the class for purposes of this policy. For purposes of this policy a student who is not present in class at least one half of the class period shall be counted absent. Preapproved absences for school sponsored activities, religious holidays, and college/post-secondary visitation shall not be counted in calculating the five (5) or more absences specified above. Absences for college/post-secondary visitation are limited to three (3) days per year for seniors and one day per year for juniors.

• The final exam is a State-required End of Course (EOC) assessment, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) exam. Students are required to take the first semester exam for these courses, as well as the final.

If a student withdraws or leaves school for the remainder of the year during the last ten (10) school days of the semester for a reason acceptable to the school principal, the student may be permitted to take early examinations.

• No early exams shall be administered prior to the last twelve (12) school days of each semester.

• Students shall pay a reasonable fee per examination as established by the Superintendent. The teacher who prepared the examination and the person (a certified instructional professional) who administers the examination will each be paid one-half (1/2) the fee per exam.

• Early examinations shall not be given during regular school hours. Early examinations may be administered after school hours and on weekends.

• In courses where the teacher chooses to give an oral/participation examination, the exam shall be administered by that teacher.

For all high school courses that are year-long courses that have a state required End of Course (EOC) assessment, the semester 1 final examination will be a district-developed common assessment, taken by all students enrolled in the course, and the end of the year examination will be the state End of Course (EOC) assessment. Students are not allowed to exempt these exams.

End of Course exam and FSA results are uploaded into Focus at the end of June as they are distributed by the state.

Summer Bridge Program: Students who have failed the Algebra 1 course and/or the Algebra 1 EOC may enroll in the Summer Bridge program and take the Algebra 1 Credit Recovery course and the Algebra 1 EOC Prep course.

EOC Retakes: Retakes of the Algebra EOC will be offered at Northeast High School several times during each school year.  Students are not required to participate in the Summer Bridge program to retest.