Rosalina Chavez didn’t graduate Friday night, despite a 3.0 GPA,
a $1,000 scholarship to Gavilan College and sparkling
references.
Morgan Hill – Rosalina Chavez didn’t graduate Friday night, despite a 3.0 GPA, a $1,000 scholarship to Gavilan College and sparkling references.
Chavez, 18, has all the credits she needs, but fell short – just barely – on the math section of the California High School Exit Exam.
Now she and others who know her are accusing the Morgan Hill Unified School District of letting her slip through the cracks, denying her the necessary support to pass the test.
Additionally, at least one school board trustee is questioning the district’s policy of barring students who don’t pass the exam from participating in graduation ceremonies, suggesting the rule is punitive to English learners.
Chavez, a Sobrato High School senior, learned in May she narrowly missed on the math portion of the exit exam.
Remarkably, she passed the reading and writing test, a tribute to her hard work and the district’s targeted support since Chavez arrived in the United States from Mexico six years ago, unable to write her name.
Chavez is one of 13 Sobrato and 18 Live Oak seniors who have not passed one or both parts of the exit exam.
Most are either special education students or English learners.
Chavez displays characteristics familiar to many California students who don’t pass the exit exam. She’s an English learner. She comes from a working class family. Her older brother and two older sisters dropped out of school. One older sister got pregnant at age 15. Her mother is a single parent who speaks limited English. Her family relied on her to take after-school jobs.
Through it all, Chavez said she kept her will to succeed and make a better life for herself and her family.
“I didn’t want to end up like so many Latinas … who drop out or get pregnant,” Chavez said.
Chavez said one reason she failed the math exam is because the school did not offer her a geometry class this year. Instead, they placed her in a program designed to help English learners pass the exit exam. She said the course improved her writing skills, but did not allow her to pass the math test.Â
The exit exam requires mastery of an eighth-grade level of math.
Sobrato Principal Rich Knapp wouldn’t comment on Chavez’s academic performance other than to say “She’s a hard worker.” The school’s confidentiality policy prevents him from sharing information on individual students.
However, Knapp said school officials work hard to identify students who are not passing the exit exams and provide them the help they need.
Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Alan Nishino also defended the school’s curriculum, saying he looked into the matter and determined the school made proper decisions.
But one school board trustee who spoke to Chavez’s teachers disagrees with the school’s position.
“I think if we’re going to hold students accountable, we need to hold schools accountable,” Morgan Hill Unified School Board trustee Shelle Thomas said. “And given the conversations I had with teachers, it sounds as though this student slipped through the cracks.”
Based on Chavez’s story, Thomas said she’s interested in re-evaluating the board’s policy of who can and cannot participate in graduation ceremonies.
School board president Peter Mandel said he’s always willing to have open discussions, but for now he stands behinds the graduation policy. Even if confronted by a tearful Chavez – who last week sent letters to all seven board members and Nishino asking to wear a cap and gown – he said he would not back down.
“The policy reflects the state’s graduation requirements,” he said. “I can understand how an 18-year-old would be disappointed … but these are situations all of us face in life” when we can’t have something we want.
He added he wishes Chavez success and hopes she completes her diploma this summer.
While broken up about not being allowed to participate in the graduation, Chavez said she wouldn’t let the situation derail her ambitions.
In April, she learned she won a $1,000 scholarship to attend Gavilan College next fall, an important step in her future. She still plans to attend.
According to Veronica Martinez, financial aid director at Gavilan, Chavez’s personal story leapt out at officials processing applications for scholarships. Each year, the Gilroy-based community college awards more than a 100 need-based scholarships, but only a few as high as $1,000.
“She stood out to us,” Martinez said, adding Chavez showed steady improvement on her transcripts starting in middle school. “On her personal statement, on her transcripts … just her whole story jumped out.”
Martinez said Chavez is still eligible for the Gavilan scholarship and can enroll in classes in the fall. However, until she passes the exit exam and gets her diploma, Chavez will be ineligible for federal financial aid.
Chavez said she is enrolled in the district’s summer school program and will re-take the math exam in July.
She’s planning on spending two years at Gavilan and transferring to Heald College to study nursing.
“It’s a good future,” she said. “Something steady.”
Those who know her are confident she can make it.Â
“The system absolutely let her down,” said Andrea Nicolette, Chavez’s supervisor at the Centennial Recreation Center’s Kid Zone, where Chavez works an after-school job with children. “I think the education system tries to be fair … but its just so hard for many English learners. It means so much for her to be the first in her family to graduate and after all she’s overcome she deserves to celebrate with her class. To her credit, I know she’ll overcome this.”
