24809: Hermantin (News) Non-graduates get second shot at diploma

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Non-graduates get second shot at diploma
By Nirvi Shah
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 17, 2005

BOYNTON BEACH — Even though Manoucheka Louidor didn't start learning English 
until she was 14, her classmates at Santaluces High thought she was one of 
the smartest kids in school.

Haitian native Louidor, now 19, was determined to become a nurse, a goal she 
set when she was a little kid. She had a 3.3 grade-point average — a B-plus 
— and earned several more credits than she needed for graduation by the end 
of her senior year.

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Two years later, Louidor isn't in nursing school. She's working as a cashier 
at a Farm Stores outlet.

In the last two years, Louidor and hundreds of Palm Beach County high school 
students couldn't graduate because they didn't pass either the reading or 
math FCAT, or both. These students earned plenty of credits and the right 
grade-point average. But all that earns them is a nearly worthless piece of 
paper called a certificate of completion. It keeps them out of most 
community college classes, many jobs and the military.

"It's just the test that messed me up," said Louidor, who still wants to 
become a nurse. She missed a passing score — 1,926 — by only three points.

For the first time, the Palm Beach County School District is reaching out to 
former students like Louidor, with the help of a state grant. In March, 
school district staff mailed 1,400 letters to former students who left 
school with certificates of completion instead of diplomas in 2003 or 2004.

Anyone who responded received individual counseling to steer them toward an 
FCAT remediation class, to get help with English skills before they take the 
FCAT, the GED or vocational classes at Palm Beach Community College. Five 
high schools are hosting the programs, and kids can attend the one closest 
to home.

Students who leave school without diplomas can retake the FCAT as many times 
as they wish — free.

Fewer than 100 former students responded, said Sandra Caruso, the district's 
adult education specialist. The offer was a hard sell to some who have been 
out of school for two years and might be uncomfortable about going back, 
even though they missed passing FCAT scores by only two or three points.

Many of them have been adrift ever since.

"I've gotten a different scenario for everyone I've talked to," said Brenda 
Hammerschmidt, a guidance counselor at Boynton Beach High. "They've helped 
out their parents. They've gotten part-time jobs. They've gotten pregnant. 
It's nothing that has any direction."

Despite that, the district plans to keep the program going for those who 
don't graduate with the class of 2005. Caruso said they might be the most 
likely to take school district help since little time will elapse between 
when they get their certificates of completion and the offer to help.

"All they need to do is make that appointment," Caruso said. Interested kids 
can call her at (561) 434-8717 and ask about the 12th-grade options program.

"There's something out there for everyone who has a certificate of 
completion or didn't have a high-enough grade-point average but passed 
FCAT," she said.

Louidor is taking a class as she prepares to retake a reading FCAT in June. 
Others are taking a math FCAT prep class. One of the kids who called 
Hammerschmidt decided to take an English class before taking the FCAT again.

Louidor spends six hours a week at Boynton Beach High, picking apart reading 
excerpts and spending time thinking about what they are reading. Teacher 
Betty Jolley is helping her and five other students to understand what they 
are reading.

"Sometimes I go through the whole reading without knowing what I'm reading," 
said one girl in Jolley's class who wants to be a doctor. The Haitian native 
is so embarrassed about not having her diploma she didn't want her name 
published.

"I want to be somebody," said an equally embarrassed classmate who works at 
McDonald's. She wants to work in the criminal justice field. "When you go to 
a job interview and you don't have a diploma, all they're thinking is 'What 
was she doing all that time?' I hate sitting around doing nothing."

Another student, who has been working at a Mexican restaurant since leaving 
Olympic Heights last year, is determined not to let her dream of becoming a 
flight attendant slip away. She retook the FCAT in March, but is in class at 
Boynton Beach High in case she learns in May her score is short again.

"I want a better life," she said. "Without the FCAT, I can't do anything."