More than 140,000 Ohio students are preparing to enter their senior year of high school, but for thousands of them, the year won鈥檛 end with a walk across a stage in a cap and gown. That is unless lawmakers move the graduation goal post once again.

It鈥檚 a lingering question that鈥檚 creating uncertainty for rising seniors in the state鈥檚 high schools.

Ja鈥橫ya and Kenmore-Garfield鈥檚 Class of 2019

Sixteen-year-old Ja鈥橫ya Goley is about a month away from starting her senior year at Kenmore-Garfield High School in Akron.

She鈥檚 a cheerleader and says her favorite subject is science- forensics and biology. She鈥檚 anxious about the upcoming school year.

鈥淭hey say your senior year goes by faster than your junior year, and my junior year flew by so I鈥檓 just nervous,鈥� Ja鈥橫ya said.

That nervousness, though, it鈥檚 not about actually graduating. Ja鈥橫ya has gotten 20 points on Ohio鈥檚 7 end of course exams, and you only need 18 to meet the state testing requirement for a diploma.

But in her class of 170 at Kenmore-Garfield, 120 students haven鈥檛 met that requirement yet.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to keep taking the test until鈥︹€� Principal Frank Kalain said, 鈥測ou know until鈥︹€�

He never finished the thought, but went on to explain all 120 students will receive special interventions this school year to help prepare them to retake the exams in October and April.

Those interventions are online learning modules that most students will take during a study hall period.

The Class of 2019 is the first to face these new, more rigorous tests that most need to graduate.

Students can also complete a certificate in a career tech field, a requirement that often takes several semesters to meet, or achieve a remediation-free score on the ACT or SAT, which Kalain said doesn鈥檛 help many.

鈥淚f a kid can鈥檛 pass these tests, how are they going to pass the ACT to be college ready?鈥� he said.

Ohio鈥檚 New Graduation Requirements

The Class of 2018-- which should have been the first required to meet the new standards-- was given some alternative options after the Ohio Department of Education discovered a third of them couldn鈥檛 meet the more rigorous requirements.

The state Board of Education has requested the alternative pathways be extended to the Classes of 2019 and 2020, but the chair of the Senate Education Committee said in April that鈥檚 unlikely.

Tom Gunlock, former president of the Ohio Board of Education, said that鈥檚 a good thing.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e shortchanging our students by not demanding more from them,鈥� he said.

Gunlock was the board鈥檚 president when the new graduation standards were approved in 2014.

He said the previous Ohio Graduation Test was too easy, requiring students to master 8^th grade level content, while the new tests are at a 10^th grade level.

Now students have to prove they鈥檝e learned in high school, he said, and the state shouldn鈥檛 bend, even if that means taking a hit to the overall graduation rate.

鈥淓verybody keeps coming back and saying, 鈥榃ell, 100 percent of our kids aren鈥檛 going to graduate鈥�,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd that was never the case in the first place.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 all for 100 percent of our kids graduating with an education, not 100 percent of our kids graduating just for a participation trophy,鈥� Gunlock added.

Finding Fairness in Graduation Requirements

Across the country, states are struggling to find the requirements that prove students have in fact received the level of education Gunlock is pushing for.

Jennifer Zinth, with the nonpartisan policy group the Education Commission of the States, said no one has found the silver bullet, but many are ending testing requirements.

鈥淪tates have been moving away from so-called exit exams over the last several years,鈥� she explained, 鈥渆xit exams being state set exams that students are required to pass in order to graduate from high school.鈥�

But for incoming seniors in Ohio, those testing requirements likely won鈥檛 change.

Only the General Assembly has the ability to adjust them and the statehouse has already been shuttered for the legislature鈥檚 summer break.

At Kenmore-Garfield, Principal Kalain said 30 seniors are just one or two points away from meeting the testing requirement and it鈥檚 expected they can do it during re-testing this year.

For the other 90 of her classmates, Ja鈥橫ya said the heavy dependence on exams isn鈥檛 fair.

鈥淲e spend all this time in school, you know, getting good grades, coming to school on time, doing what we鈥檙e supposed to do,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut when it comes to tests, a lot of us [are] not good at tests. It鈥檚 a lot of pressure put on us.鈥�

Of all the senior activities, Ja鈥橫ya said she鈥檚 most excited for her actual graduation ceremony, but there鈥檚 a chance as many as half of her classmates won鈥檛 make it there.

This story was produced in collaboration with the Education Writers Association as part of the . Editing support was also provided by Ben Felder of The Oklahoman.

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