Minneapolis teachers union pushes for more students to be included in graduation

A group of teachers and parents is calling on Minneapolis Public Schools to ease its requirements to allow more students with outstanding class credits to participate in graduation ceremonies in June.

Supporters say the pandemic has made it harder for some students to keep up, and the commencement ceremony is an important ritual that should be available to seniors who plan to complete their classes in summer school.

A petition sponsored by the Minneapolis teachers union requests that the district allow all seniors who are within 2.25 credits of graduation requirements to be included in this year's ceremony. Under current district rules, students can walk at commencement if they are within 0.75 credits of those necessary to graduate.

"After all we have been through this year and all the milestones our seniors and their families have missed, the least we can do is let more students participate in graduation this year," said Greta Callahan, the teachers union president.

About 76% of Minneapolis' 2,731 seniors are on track to meet graduation requirements, according to the district. About 3% of seniors are short 0.25 to 0.75 credits and therefore still are able to walk at commencement with no policy changes. Another 5% are short between 0.75 and 2.5 credits.

The petition says the 0.75 standard for participation is "outdated and arbitrary" and changing it this year for students whose education was disrupted by the pandemic is "the least we can do if we really want to support student social emotional learning and equity in MPS."

Superintendent Ed Graff said the district recognizes that more seniors than usual need to make up credits. The district expanded summer school hours this year and offered courses over winter and spring break. And staff members are focused on helping students catch up before the end of the school year, he said.

"People rightly have concerns about who has been most profoundly affected academically during this pandemic and I want them to know that the 0.75 graduation requirement for students to walk is not randomly assigned," Graff said at a board meeting this week. Before the pandemic, about one-third to half of students who participated in graduation ceremonies with outstanding credits did not complete them during summer school.

Graff and several school board members expressed support for holding additional celebrations, perhaps even a summer graduation, for students who use summer courses to meet graduation requirements.

To complete 2.25 credits over the summer, a student would have attend, with perfect attendance, all three summer school sessions and complete more than two years worth of coursework in the 23 days of summer classes.

"That's a really difficult hill to climb," said Aimee Fearing, the district's interim senior academic officer. "It's not that it is impossible, but from my experience, even 0.75 is probably asking a lot."

Teachers union leaders say the change would allow more students of color, who had families hit harder by the pandemic, to walk at graduation.

Board Member Kimberly Caprini said her "heart hurts" for students who won't be able to participate in a ceremony alongside their peers.

"Can we just give these kids some joy for a minute?" she said. "Their whole senior year has been completely changed from what they expected."

Mary Ghebremeskal, the school board's student representative, said it's hard to define the "right" number of credits students need to have to be in the ceremony. She encouraged district leaders to consider that the work or child-care responsibilities that caused some students to fall behind aren't going to go away at the start of summer school.

"Many students may not be able to attend summer school even with" the rule change, she said.

Establishing and changing graduation requirements is left up to district administration, not the school board. Board chair Kim Ellison ended the discussion by telling Graff that board members were interested in finding additional ways to celebrate students.

Mara Klecker • 612-673-4440