High School Graduates Absentee Students: Report

The New Jersey Education Department has found that Princeton High School has been graduating students who miss too many days of school.

Students who miss more than 10 percent of school days are supposed to be denied class credits, though they can appeal.

The Times of Trenton reports the state has found the school often gives students credit for classes even if they miss too many days and in many cases does so without requiring students to appeal their absences.

The report finds students were given a pass when students' situations were known to school staff.

The state says the diplomas will not be stripped from any graduates.

The Princeton school board is planning to discuss the report later this month.

In a press release, Board of Education President Tim Quinn and district Superintendent Judith A. Wilson addressed the report agreeing with recommendations to standardize attendance appeals.

“(The district) takes great exception to the omissions, misleading language and incomplete account in the report. Most of all, it must be clearly and firmly stated that never once were any student records altered in any way. PHS pupils are known well by their teachers, their counselors, their nurses and their administrators. Every credit, every grade and every attendance pattern were specifically documented and addressed by our staff.”

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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