BATH — For the first time since World War II, Morse High School in Bath will offer two different diplomas to graduating seniors: the school’s diploma and the state version for students who fall just shy of Morse’s course credit standards.
For this year alone, if a Morse High School Senior doesn’t earn the credits necessary for a Morse High School diploma but they qualify for a state diploma, they will be able to graduate from Morse.
The Regional School Unit 1 School Board unanimously approved the change this week.
By law, the state diploma can assist students who experience “education disruption” for a number of reasons, such as transferring schools multiple times, homelessness, being placed in foster care, long-term hospitalization or missing enough consecutive days of school.
Kelli Deveaux of the Maine Department of Education said the department issued five state diplomas last year but was unable to confirm how many were issued in prior years. The state has issued only one diploma so far this year and has received applications for two more.
Morse High School Principal Eric Varney said up to six students could qualify to receive a state diploma later this month.
Varney said not every student had the ability to succeed to the level they could have if the COVID-19 pandemic hadn’t force them to adapt to distance learning the last three months of the year.
“We know some students accelerate … and do better toward the end” of the school year, Varney told the school board Monday. “We usually have a host of ways we help students get across that finish line. Some of those tactics, in distance learning, we don’t have and it has been more difficult for us to connect with those students.”
Varney said some students are at a significant disadvantage if they can’t communicate with teachers, school counselors and ed techs via online videoconferencing platforms.
“The worry is that some students, under the current situation, weren’t on an even playing field because they’re affected by things outside their control,” said Varney. “We are realizing that the personal relationships that are so much stronger in person are even more powerful than we expected. Making these connections with students has been much harder in distance learning.”
The state diploma “introduces a second opportunity for kids to get recognition for what they have committed four years of their life for,” said school board Chairman Stephen August.
Differences between the diplomas include Morse’s requirement of three years of math, social studies and science, whereas the state diploma only requires two years of each.
Temporarily offering the state diploma in addition to the Morse High School diploma hasn’t been done for over 70 years, according to Troy Cunningham, the historian for the Morse High School alumni association.
“During the war a lot of boys went off to serve, and when they came back they picked up where they left off,” said Cunningham, referring to World War II. “There were a few diplomas that were awarded to boys who went into the service during their senior year.”
According to graduation documents, 14 boys in the class of 1945 entered the service during their senior year. When they returned, they received a “limited certificate of graduation” because they met the state standards for graduation, but they didn’t complete certain credits to graduate with a Morse High School diploma.
Varney said any student who receives a state diploma rather than a Morse High School diploma will still walk with their classmates at their graduation ceremony at the Wiscasset Municipal Airport next week.
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