389.805 - Issuance of standard high school diploma; issuance of adjusted diploma; alternative criteria prescribed by State Board. [Effective through December 31, 2010.]

389.805  Issuance of standard high school diploma and adjusted diploma; certain exceptions from requirements for pupil transferred due to military transfer of parent; alternative criteria prescribed by State Board. [Effective January 1, 2011.]

      1.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, a pupil must receive a standard high school diploma if the pupil:

      (a) Passes all subject areas of the high school proficiency examination administered pursuant to NRS 389.015 and otherwise satisfies the requirements for graduation from high school; or

      (b) Has failed to pass the high school proficiency examination administered pursuant to NRS 389.015 in its entirety not less than two times before beginning grade 12 and the pupil:

             (1) Passes the subject areas of mathematics and reading on the proficiency examination;

             (2) Has an overall grade point average of not less than 2.75 on a 4.0 grading scale;

             (3) Satisfies the alternative criteria prescribed by the State Board pursuant to subsection 4; and

             (4) Otherwise satisfies the requirements for graduation from high school.

      2.  A pupil with a disability who does not satisfy the requirements for receipt of a standard high school diploma may receive a diploma designated as an adjusted diploma if the pupil satisfies the requirements set forth in his or her individualized education program. As used in this subsection, “individualized education program” has the meaning ascribed to it in 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(A).

      3.  A pupil who transfers during grade 12 to a school in this State from a school outside this State because of the military transfer of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil may receive a waiver from the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection 1 if, in accordance with the provisions of NRS 392C.010, the school district in which the pupil is enrolled:

      (a) Accepts the results of the exit or end-of-course examinations required for graduation in the local education agency in which the pupil was previously enrolled;

      (b) Accepts the results of a national norm-referenced achievement examination taken by the pupil; or

      (c) Establishes an alternative test for the pupil which demonstrates proficiency in the subject areas tested on the high school proficiency examination, and the pupil successfully passes that test.

      4.  The State Board shall adopt regulations that prescribe the alternative criteria for a pupil to receive a standard high school diploma pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1, including, without limitation:

      (a) An essay;

      (b) A senior project; or

      (c) A portfolio of work,

Ê or any combination thereof, that demonstrate proficiency in the subject areas on the high school proficiency examination which the pupil failed to pass.

      (Added to NRS by 2007, 1076; A 2009, 351, 2619, effective January 1, 2011)