Members of the Polk County Board of Education are debating a policy that would give a way to graduate to some students who have the state-mandated 21 credits but who fall short of the 28 credits needed to graduate from Polk County High School.

The board approved Monday the first reading of a policy that would give students with extenuating circumstances an avenue to graduate under a Core Diploma Program. The policy will be revisited during the boards August meeting and following a review from the N.C. School Boards Association.

Polk County Schools currently requires 28 credits, seven more than the state of North Carolina, as well a graduation project in order to graduate high school.

The policy on the table denotes special circumstances for students such as pregnancy, depression and other environmental, psychological and/or physiological challenges as reasons for entering the Core Diploma Program.

Under the policy, the high-school principal would recommend students for the Core Diploma Program and those students would then be approved by a Core Diploma Committee for inclusion in the program.

If it gets down to it, and thats all the student is capable of, we want to give the principal that choice, said Polk County Schools Superintendent Bill Miller. We have to recognize that there are kids out there who cant meet our criteria.

The policy under consideration addresses the number of credits a student must obtain before graduating under the Core Diploma Program, but it does not address the graduation project all Polk County High seniors must complete before receiving their diploma.

Board members agreed that is also something that must be considered before moving forward with the policy.

While the board unanimously approved the first reading, there was concern that the decisions of the Core Diploma Committee might seem capricious and open the school system up to legal action, and that is why it will await the review of the School Boards Association.

But board chairman Geoff Tennant said he sees the proposed program as a way to fulfill the boards objective of helping every student receive an education.

In doing this, I dont want to see the dilution of our graduation requirements except in these very rare circumstances where a cataclysmic event has happened in the life of a student, Tennant said.