After ten year wait OC Student finally receives Diploma

A special graduation ceremony took place at last night’s School District of Oconee County Board of Trustees meeting. After ten years, Pamela Putnam finally received her diploma under Act 155, explains Oconee County Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Thorsland. “Well up until last year, South Carolina for approximately 20 years had an exit exam that students took in the tenth and in addition to the normal credits that you had to gain by passing classes, you also had to pass an exit exam to get your high school diploma. That exit exam requirement has been waived, so the state said we should waive it for all the students over the last 20 years or so as well. So, students who had the appropriate number of credits or units to graduate but they had not passed the exit exam all of a sudden became eligible for a high school diploma. So, all those students had to do was call our office and we would check with the high school, examine their transcripts and if they had the appropriate number of credits we were able to award them a diploma.” Several former Oconee County public school students are taking advantage of the change, adds Dr. Thorsland. “We have had over 50 students qualify under Act 155 to receive their high school diplomas and we are really excited about awarding those diplomas.” The law is retroactive to the class of 1990 and the deadline for submitting a petition is Dec. 31, 2015. Contact the School District of Oconee County at 864-886-4400 for more information about Act 155.