Frequently Asked Questions and Promising Practices

II. Practices that May Benefit Students, Parents, and the School Community

21. Student exit process — promising practices in Alternative Education

Students enrolled in high school Alternative Education programs or schools must meet the same state Competency Determination requirements as all other students in the district in order to graduate. This includes passing the grade 10 MCAS exam and meeting all local requirements, which should be spelled out clearly to students and parents.

Alternative Education programs or schools adopt clear and explicit criteria and procedural framework to address:

• How students enrolled in programs or schools by choice exercise a right to return to a traditional school setting, including:

  1. an opportunity for students, parent/guardians, and staff to confer regarding the advisability and logistics of the transfer and transfer options, including a collaborative and supported transition, and
  2. identifying and assigning the next school placement;

• How students for whom a program/school is no longer beneficial return to the traditional school setting or other educational program, including:

  1. an opportunity for students, parent/guardians and program/school staff to determine when a program is not an appropriate fit for the student and not beneficial to the student's academic and personal goals, and to confer regarding the advisability and logistics of the transfer and transfer options, including a collaborative and supported transition, and
  2. identifying and assigning the next school placement;

• How students exit from involuntary programs, including:

  1. the basis for determining completion of the program or placement by the student who seeks to return to a regular district school; and
  2. how the next school placement will be determined.

The exit procedures and criteria are explicitly written in each Alternative Education program/school handbook and provided to parents and students in the language of the home at the time of admittance into the alternative program or school.

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Last Updated: January 17, 2018