Making the grade

When Polish exchange student Filip Lempa arrived at Mitchell High School in Bedford, he came with the understanding that he would be able to earn an American diploma. The Rotary Youth Exchange had told him this while still in Poland, and MHS administrators later told him that this would be a possibility. Take Indiana's Graduation Qualifying Exam, they said, and we'll see.\nAfterwards, they changed their minds, telling the straight "A" student that he would instead receive only a certificate of achievement, despite him having passed the exam and delivered to the school an officially translated copy of his high school transcripts from Poland. Lempa appealed this decision, but the Indiana Department of Education ruled to not make an exception in his case.\nThe Rotary Youth Exchange is not meant to provide transfer credits -- it's meant to promote cultural development by giving students the opportunity to study abroad. Still, Mitchell High School and the Indiana Department of Education have an obligation to inform international students as soon as they arrive that they will not be able receive a diploma from the high school they are attending, no matter how their academic record looks.\nBy not clearly stating their policy, the high school administrators gave Lempa the wrong impression. After the work he's done towards fulfilling the requirements set forth to him, he deserves to graduate and receive a diploma from MHS. Indiana's graduation requirements definitely vary from other states', so it can only be assumed that they vary to a much larger extent from those from a different country.\nHowever, if an Indiana high school gives credit to a student from another state who has completed similar courses to those required by the Core 40 plan, shouldn't coursework from another country count for credit if it's concerning the same subject? If only approximately two-thirds of Indiana high school sophomores passed the 2005 GQE when the ISTEP+ was administered to them, shouldn't that say something about Lempa's academic abilities?\nLempa has worked diligently as both an athlete and a scholar during his year here. What's more, if he does not receive this diploma, the 19-year-old senior will have to complete another year of high school in Poland. Polish colleges will accept an American high school diploma, but not a GED or a certificate of achievement. It makes sense that he would want to graduate here, and he has shown himself to already be better prepared than a large segment of Indiana's native high school students.\nWe empathize with Lempa's desire to get credit for the work he has already completed, and while we understand the policy, we think to deny Lempa his diploma is an unnecessarily harsh application of a rule that, in this case, deserves to be bent.