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School board wants more information about graduation project
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Published: July 14, 2009
CONCORD — Cabarrus County Schools Board of Education is still not sure if it will continue to implement the graduation project, but if it does, it will most likely be modified.
The board decided to vote on the project at its work session on July 30, instead of making a decision at the business meeting Monday night.
"The bottom line is we don't want it in the format it's going to come in," said Holly Blackwelder, board chair. "There are a lot of elements that board members are not happy with. I feel like modifications can be made."
The project is a requirement for graduation where students research a topic, write a paper, spend time with a mentor, produce a portfolio and present their work to a panel of judges.
In the past, all work has been completed during the senior year, but the new format would have students write a paper during their junior year and finish the project their senior year.
While the board was split in continuing it or not on Monday, those who supported the project had various questions or concerns they want addressed before the final vote.
One of the major concerns was that students either pass or fail the project instead of receiving a letter grade. For Blackwelder, who has been an advocate of the project, whether this continues will affect her vote.
"I don't like that it is pass or fail," Blackwelder said. "My thought is that if we can't change that, I'm going to vote against it."
Another major concern was about spreading the project over a two-year period.
Board member Cindy Fertenbaugh said that, with students who move in and out of the school district during their junior and senior years of high school, it would be hard to have the project in the span of two years.
For those who move during their senior year, they would already be behind in their progress.
Fertenbaugh suggested waiting to vote on the project so that the staff could bring information to the board at the work session about staffing requirements for the project, making it mandatory only for honors students, realigning the pass or fail grading system and reducing the amount of mentor time.
She also asked that the staff look into comments the board heard about students feeling pressured to have positive entries in their portfolio about the project when they completed it.
Among the board, members Fertenbaugh, Blackwelder, Andrea Palo and Wayne Williams supported the project overall and said they felt it prepared students for college and the workforce.
"Students historically have been trying to convince folks of how little they should be required to do," Williams said. "Senior year is the beginning of the rest of their lives, and they are going to face greater challenges than these senior projects."
Williams also added that if the state did require the project in the future, which the board has been told would happen, and Cabarrus County Schools ended it, then the school system would have to start all over.
Board members Carolyn Carpenter, Tim Furr and Mike Helms said they did not support continuing the project.
Carpenter said the project originally was supposed to be required by the state and still was not. She said the school system did not receive extra state funding for the project, and she did not support unfunded mandates.
Instead, Carpenter suggested having students learn basic skills, such as balancing a checkbook or creating a resume.
Furr was concerned about the stress placed on students and their families during the project, especially the financial burden.
"I don't think the senior project validates what they've accomplished in their high school career," Furr said.
The school board will discuss the project again at its work session at 6 p.m. on July 30 at Hickory Ridge High School.
• Contact reporter Jessica Groover: 704-789-9152
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