(A) Diplomas issued to graduates of accredited high schools within this State must be uniform in every respect and particularly as to color, size, lettering, and marking. In accordance with Section 59-59-10, et seq., districts and schools shall provide students with personalized pathways for earning the uniform diploma, and students may earn endorsements based upon their course of study, which may be represented by seals added to the student's uniform diploma. The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations establishing these pathways and endorsements.

(B) Beginning with students entering the ninth grade in School Year 1997-1998, the number of units required for a high school diploma was increased to twenty-four units. To support the Profile of the Graduate, for students entering the ninth grade beginning with the 2018-2019 School Year, the twenty-four units required are as prescribed in this section and in regulation by the State Board of Education.

(1) Students will continue to be required to earn the units of credit as prescribed in regulation and, when applicable, be offered national industry certifications or credentials.

(2) Coursework must be aligned with a student's personalized diploma pathway. The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations that outline the process and procedures for approval of courses to personalize pathways based on students' postsecondary plans and include an annually updated course activity coding manual listing approved courses. The individualized graduation planning process must plan each student's personalized pathway based on his postsecondary plans.

(C) The State Board of Education, through the Department of Education and in collaboration with the Vocational Rehabilitation Department, the Department of Employment and Workforce, businesses, and stakeholders shall develop criteria for a uniform state-recognized employability credential that is aligned to the program of study for students with a disability whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines, and agrees in writing, that a diploma pathway would not provide a free appropriate public education. The State Board of Education, in conjunction with the department, shall develop a rubric and guidelines to identify and assess the employability skills of the students, based on appropriate standards established. The credentials must be uniform in size, shape, and design.

(D) The department shall monitor the number of diplomas and employability credentials earned by students and shall report to the State Board of Education and the General Assembly biannually by February 15, beginning in 2020.

(E) Nothing in this section prohibits local school boards of trustees from awarding recognition to students who complete additional units and credits beyond those required by this section.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 21-630; 1952 Code Section 21-630; 1942 Code Section 5415; 1933 (38) 164; 1984 Act No. 512, Part II, Section 9, Division II, Subdivision A, SubPart 1, Section 1; 1997 Act No. 155, Part II, Section 6; 2005 Act No. 49, Section 11, eff May 3, 2005; 2017 Act No. 54 (S.462), Section 1, eff June 8, 2017.

Editor's Note

2017 Act No. 54, Section 2, provides as follows:

"This act takes effect with students entering ninth grade beginning with the 2018-2019 School Year."

Effect of Amendment

The 2005 amendment designated subsections (A) to (E); in the second sentence of subsection (C), substituted "Career and technology" for "Vocational" and "pre-career and technology" for "pre-vocational"; in the second sentence of subsection (D), substituted "career and technology" for "vocational"; and made nonsubstantive language changes in subsections (C), (D) and (E).

2017 Act No. 54, Section 1, rewrote the section, providing personalized pathways for students to earn diplomas, revising the coursework students entering ninth grade during the 2018-2019 school year must earn for graduation, providing for a uniform employability credential available for certain students with disabilities as an alternative to diploma pathways, and providing the State Department of Education shall monitor numbers of diplomas and employability credentials earned by students and biannually report such numbers.