LYNN — For the second year in a row, the School Committee has decided to waive graduation credit requirements for high school seniors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the district’s graduation policy, students are required to earn 100 total credits– 25 per year — to graduate high school.
Superintendent of Schools Patrick Tutwiler said in Thursday’s School Committee meeting that because of the difficulties of remote learning during the pandemic, approximately 67 current high school seniors were not able to complete the required 25 credits, despite finishing all of the other requirements to graduate. Students who participated in the district’s remote learning academy only completed 20 credits during the 2020-2021 school year.
“Waiving the policy would not be a departure from the district’s core values of high expectations,” Tutwiler said. “All students who graduate from Lynn Public Schools must have the equivalent of four years of English, four years of math, four years of history, two years of world language, and so forth. All of these students meet those requirements.”
The committee voted unanimously to approve Tutwiler’s suggestion to waive the credit requirement for students who have completed those core requirements and the state’s competency requirements.
Tréa Lavery can be reached at [email protected].