REQUIREMENTS

current local district option allows districts to require a minimum of 21 credits for graduation. Massey estimated half of the state's districts were below the state's recommended 24 credits. Others have required their students to take more.

Going forward, "any district can go above and beyond, but this (24 credits) would be the base level for all students," Massey said.

Under the new guidelines, students with disabilities would most likely exit high school under one of two paths. The first would be to earn a traditional diploma. One of the concerns about the state's occupational diploma was that a number of students receiving the alternate diploma had learning disabilities, a category that includes dyslexia, which

might not have prevented them from earning a traditional diploma in the first place.

Students receiving special education services can also exit high school with a Certificate of Completion, provided they have reached the maximum age of service, which in Mississippi is 20, and have not been able to meet the requirements for a traditional diploma. The certificate is not equivalent to a high school diploma.

Students entering their sophomore, junior or senior year already on track for an occupational diploma can continue in their course of study with parental permission, but incoming freshman must work toward a traditional diploma.

Students with significant cognitive disabilities will be eligible for an alternate diploma.

The proposal now goes to public comment for 30 days.