The board holds a strong belief that every child can achieve and that achievement is measured in a variety of ways. It is recognized that the rate of physical, social, emotional and academic growth will vary among individual students. Since each student grows as his/her own rate, these individual growth characteristics shall be recognized in classroom programming.

Promotion holds promise for students in Highline as they strive to be college and career ready and we will remain vigilant and flexible in considering options that might exist now and in the future. We envision developing and accessing more options for students as they move through our educational system.

Further, the board believes that the commitment to our students and families lies first in identifying how a student is progressing on an on-going basis – then finding ways to support that student should learning needs arise. In most typical settings, a student will be promoted to the next grade after successfully completing a year of study at a specific grade level.

The board believes that intervening early when students fall behind is critical. Therefore, we will develop ways to identify students who are struggling and intervene quickly.

Retention is seen as a last resort especially in the early years and should only occur after multiple opportunities to succeed have been in place for a student. There may be times when retention at the same grade may be beneficial to the student when he/she is not demonstrating minimum competency in basic skill subjects in relation to ability and grade level. Retention should not be considered, except in these instances where there is a strong likelihood that the student will benefit with minimum social and emotional disruption. Parent input is a vital part of any decision regarding retention.

The superintendent or designee shall establish procedures which provide that parents will be involved and informed at least one (1) quarter in advance of any retention decision on the part of the school.

Cross Reference:
Program Evaluation - Policy 2090

Highline School District 401
Adopted by the Board: August 1984
Revised by the Board: 03.93, 11.08
Classification: Discretionary