Directors of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board voted 8-1 Monday to keep the Keystone Exams as a high school graduation requirement even though the state dropped the requirement.

The dissenting vote came from Gregg Lindner who attended the Jan. 22 meeting by phone from Germany. Lindner said that if the state doesn’t mandate passing the Keystones for graduation, “We shouldn’t mandate it either.”

Superintendent John Sanville said the administration recommended keeping the requirement.

The state moratorium on the graduation requirement runs through 2019, but the state still requires students to take the tests.

Assistant to the Superintendent John Nolen said, “If we do have to give the test…then to make sure it’s worthwhile and meaningful the administration feels that it should count for something.”

According to Nolen, no Unionville High School student failed to graduate because of failing the Keystones.

“Twenty-seventeen was the first year where the Keystone requirement came into full effect. All of our students were able to meet the requirement,” Nolen said.

He added, however, some students had to take the tests more than once before passing. Tutoring and other classes and pathways are available to students to help them meet the requirement.

“Ultimately, “Nolen said a week earlier during the board’s work session, “if a student does not pass a Keystone and does not participate successfully in a remediation course in a way that we hope, we can allow, or the superintendent can wave the requirement.”

The graduation requirement is for high school students to have 22 credits plus pass the state tests.

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