TRIO Wolf Creek Distance Learning Charter School Guidelines for Rigorous Course Waivers-
Before a school board can approve the rigorous course waiver
for a student, the 2005 law specifies that all three of the following
requirements must be met:
- The
student is participating in a course of study, learning opportunity
outside the charter school curriculum, or an approved employment
preparatory program for employment or postsecondary education that is
equally or more rigorous than the corresponding state or local academic
standard; and
- The
student would be precluded from participating in the rigorous course of
study if the student were required to achieve the academic standard to be
waived; and
- The
student satisfactorily completes the requirements for the rigorous course
of study learning opportunity, or preparatory employment or postsecondary
education program.
Also to approve the rigorous
course waiver the following must be submitted to the Charter School Director
before the first day of school in the school year in which the waiver is being
requested.
- An
official transcript or other document that shows successful completion of
the course of study.
- A
written document that clearly states all benchmarks and standards from
which the student is requesting to be waived and a clear correlation is
shown between these standards and the course of study taken.
- A
course outline or other documentation on both the topics covered in the
course or course of study and the institution at which the course was
taken or the placement from which the course of study was taken.
- A
letter to be signed and dated by the student’s parents or guardians and
placed in the student’s cumulative folder stating the following:
“I have reviewed the academic standards that will be waived if my child
satisfactorily completes the _________________________Course Name-and hereby
provide my consent for the waiver to be considered by the school board”.
It is the responsibility of the
charter school Director under the advisement of the local school board to
determine if this rigorous course waiver falls within the parameters set forth
by both Minnesota statue and
charter school policy. The local school
board retains responsibility for adherence to the law when determining whether
particular rigorous educational experiences qualify for a wavier from required
academic standards.