District Policies

District

E125 Promotion, Placement and Retention of Students

E125 PROMOTION, PLACEMENT, AND RETENTION OF STUDENTS

The School Board recognizes that the personal, social, physical, and educational growth of children will vary and that they should be placed in the educational setting most appropriate to their needs at the various stages of their growth.

The Board delegates sole authority to Corporation teachers and building principals to make determinations of academic grades and promotion or retention at a grade level, in the best interests of the children. The Board and/or Superintendent shall not hear “appeals” or complaints regarding a student’s grades or promotion/retention.

A student with an IEP will graduate high school and exit special education services in consultation with the student’s case conference committee.

Following sound principles of child guidance, the Board discourages the skipping of grades.

A student shall not be retained or promoted in a grade level for any purpose related to the student's participation in extra-curricular programs, including athletic programs.

The Board will comply with the requirements of the Indiana Department of Education regarding the consequences for students in grade three who fail to pass the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination Assessment (IREAD-3). The Superintendent may develop administrative guidelines for promotion, placement, and retention of students which assign to the principal the final responsibility for determining the promotion, placement, or retention of each student, subject to the following.

A student who would otherwise be retained in grade three (3) as required by Indiana law due to failure to pass the State Board approved determinant assessment of reading skills shall not be so retained if any of the following circumstances apply:

The student was subject to retention and has been retained in grade three (3) for one (1) school year;

The student has an intellectual disability or the student's individualized education program specifies that retention is not appropriate, and the student's case conference committee has determined that promotion to another grade is appropriate;

The student is an English learner who has received services for fewer than two (2) years and a committee consisting of the student’s parent, a building level administrator or designee, a classroom teacher of service, an English learner teacher of record (if one exists), and an English learner district administrator (if one exists) determines that promotion is appropriate based on the implementation of research based instructional practices outlined in the student's individual learning plan;

The student received a score of proficient or above proficient in grade 3 math on the statewide summative assessment; or

The student
1. has received intensive intervention as determined by the department in reading for two (2) or more years; and
2. was retained more than one (1) time throughout kindergarten, grade 1, or grade 2.

Such student who is not subject to the retention legal requirement for one or more reasons above must be provided with additional reading instruction that is aligned with the science of reading until the student achieves a passing score on the determinant evaluation of reading skills approved by the state board.

A parent of a student who has been retained in grade three (3) as required by Indiana law due to failure to pass the State Board approved determinant assessment of reading skills may appeal such retention if:

the student would not be subject to retention for other reasons, and
the parent believes the student meets one of the exceptions above.

The appeal shall be submitted to the Principal, who will review relevant data pertaining to the student and meet with the parent on the appeal outcome.