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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > May > 22
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thurgood Marshall parents get their day in court
A Thurgood Marshall High School parent argued in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Thursday that a judge should stop graduation unless his daughter and other students who failed the Ohio Graduation Test are allowed to participate.
“Their argument is we have no right to grant this request,” said Donald Domineck, acting as his own attorney. “But we’re not coming from the standpoint of whether you have a right or not. We are asking you to consider the circumstances. The kids have worked hard. The law responsible for this policy is unfair. Are we being sensitive to their feelings of the kids or acting like a robot?”
Ohio law requires students to earn 21 credits of coursework and pass all five parts of the Ohio Graduation Test to earn a diploma but some districts allow kids who have failed one part of the test to participate in graduation. Dayton schools do not.
John Concannon, attorney for the school board, said Domaneck made no credible argument in court that there is a legal reason to stop Thurgood Marshall’s graduation.
Concannon noted that starting last year Ohio law allowed students who have come close but failed one portion of the test to still graduate if they maintained a 2.5 average in that subject, attending school at least 97 percent of the time, enrolled in intervention programs and got recommendations from a teacher and principal.
Concannon said the district had even added a summer graduation ceremony for kids who pass the test over the summer.
“It is a great moment,” Concannon said of the graduation ceremony. “When diplomas are conferred upon people, that is something that needs to be earned. We didn’t make the rules about the graduation test, but we have to enforce them.”
Judge Frances E. McGee warned Domineck from the start that she had grounds to dismiss his case for procedural errors but allowed testimony and she would rule no later than Tuesday on his request for an injunction.
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