State drops two graduation requirements for high school students

If your high school days are behind you but you never got your diploma, you may have a second chance.

A bill passed by the General Assembly has eliminated previous graduation requirements. The bill eliminates two tests, formally required to graduate. They are the state competency test and computer skills test.

The new law takes affect this year but students who were enrolled in a graduating class as far back as 1981 are eligible to file for their diploma.

If you had all of your credits but you did not pass the competency test, the computer test, or both you are now eligible to apply. However, if you dropped out, you do not qualify.

Sarah Hodges with Beaufort County Schools explained, “We really want to find the people this would apply to because it could make a world of difference in a job, furthering their education, maybe things have changed since they exited without their diploma now they want to achieve further education; we’ll help to be able to facilitate that.“

Hodges says they are in the process to trying to figure out how many people would qualify.