House Bill 91
More than 8,000 Georgians could now be eligible to receive their high school diplomas under a new law signed by Governor Nathan Deal on March 30. House Bill 91 – Diploma Recovery, which was sponsored by state Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth), retroactively eliminates certain state tests that are no longer required for graduation.
The law helps current and former students, who met all other academic requirements for graduation, but who did not receive a high school diploma because they were unable to pass a portion(s) of multi-part state exams. The law extends to the following state exams: Georgia High School Graduation Test; the Georgia High School Writing Test; and the Georgia Basic Skills Test, which was first administered in 1981.
The new law allows these Georgians to petition their high school or school board where they were enrolled, to determine current eligibility for their diploma instead of going through the lengthy process of requesting a waiver from the state education board.
The law also retroactively eliminates the Georgia High School Graduation Test as a requirement for students who took the test between 1994 (when the test was established) and the present. A State Board of Education Rule in 2011 eliminated the GHSGT as a requirement for graduation, but that elimination did not extend to students who had previously taken the test.
If any current or former student of Bulloch County Schools believes that he or she qualifies for a high school diploma under the new law, he or she should complete the school system’s petition form and submit it to the last high school that he or she attended.