PDFWAC 180-51-035

Applicable standards for graduation for students under age twenty-one—Applicable standards for graduation for students age twenty-one or older—Amendments to this chapter.

(1) All students entering a high school program in Washington state shall be assigned an expected graduation year as required by federal law and this section. Once students are assigned a graduation year, they will be aligned to the requirements for that specific graduating class and subject to the provisions of this section.
(a) Students shall be assigned an expected graduation year based on the year they commence ninth grade, or for out-of-district and out-of-state transfer students, based on local district policy, provided that the expected graduation year for students receiving special education services shall be assigned and based on an individualized education program (IEP) team determination in the year in which the student turns sixteen.
(b) Students shall have the right and the obligation to meet the minimum graduation requirements in place for their ninth grade cohort at the time they enter a public high school, regardless of whether their expected graduation year has been extended or what year they actually graduate.
(2)(a) A student age twenty-one or older who earns a high school diploma through the adult high school completion option under WAC 180-51-053 shall be required to meet the state minimum graduation credit established when the student began their high school program. Such students shall not be required to earn a certificate of academic achievement, a certificate of individual achievement, or meet pathway graduation requirements under WAC 180-51-210;
(b) The state board of education reserves the prerogative to determine if and when the waived requirements under (a) of this subsection shall be required to earn an adult high school completion diploma.
(3) Unless otherwise required by statute, all subsequent amendments to credit graduation requirement rules and all subsequent local standards shall apply prospectively to the students who enter the ninth grade or begin the equivalent of a four-year high school program subsequent to the amendments.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.230.090. WSR 20-01-101, § 180-51-035, filed 12/13/19, effective 1/13/20. Statutory Authority: Chapter 28A.230 RCW and RCW 28B.50.915. WSR 05-21-007, § 180-51-035, filed 10/6/05, effective 11/6/05; WSR 04-20-093, § 180-51-035, filed 10/5/04, effective 11/5/04. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.230.090. WSR 00-19-108, § 180-51-035, filed 9/20/00, effective 10/21/00. Statutory Authority: Chapter 28A.05 RCW. WSR 84-11-049 (Order 7-84), § 180-51-035, filed 5/17/84.]