Haverhill Schools Note Dilemma Parents of Special Needs Students Face Over Earning Diploma

Bartlett School and Assessment Center (Jay Saulnier file photograph for WHAV News.)

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Receiving a diploma and graduating from high school may work against a high needs student’s interest.

Haverhill School Committee members recently acknowledged a dilemma parents face when a high school diploma actually denies special needs students services to which they are entitled after age 18. School Committee Vice Chair Richard J. Rosa explained post high school programs may better prepare them for adult life.

“They can’t get into the 18 to 22 programs, they not going to be able to get into an adult day program if they have a diploma. We know some students with autism, despite getting a diploma, they’re not going to be gainfully employed,” he said.

Under the state’s special education law, students with disabilities who require special education are entitled to receive special education until they turn 22 or attain a high school diploma or its equivalent, whichever comes first.

Since 2020, graduation rates for students with disabilities has jumped by more than 13%, from 52.9% to 66.3% of students with disabilities graduating in 2023. For English Language Learners, graduation rates have risen sharply since 2019, with 84.6% of students graduating compared to 66.7% prior to the pandemic.

Director of Student Support Services Deborah Ibanez explained what’s driving the good and bad consequences.

“What we’re finding is some of the students that didn’t graduate in the past—the reason why they’re graduating is because they’re getting more accommodated and modified curriculum and its making them pass MCAS—so it’s putting them at that point where they have to either accept the diploma or reject the IEP, which we then have to go into a mediation kind of thing. Then we decide if they’re going to come into the Learning for Life program,” she said.

The school system’s Learning for Life Program aims to transition students after high school to provide additional learning experiences in career development and independent living. The program helps students learn how to advocate, participate in vocational experiences and use community resources among other experiences.

Superintendent of Schools Margaret Marotta backed Rosa’s concerns.

“Sometimes, kids getting a diploma actually removes services from them later in life. It’s actually a negative,” she said.

An early warning tool parents could use to help make choices was Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, that voters removed the as a graduation requirement. Rosa noted not requiring the standardized test “really throws a wrench into the mix.”

“At least before, if they passed the 10th grade MCAS, you sort of knew ‘Okay, at least they have certain skills,’” he said.

Ibanez said the school system is expecting guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in the coming months.

Even still, Ibanez said choosing between a diploma and post-graduate services could be “a hard choice for people to make.”

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