UC High will gradually phase out credit recovery classes and no longer offer them by 2016, according to Principal Jeff Olivero.
“Students in the class of 2016 and after will not be allowed to take online credit recovery courses. This means students either pass their classes, go to summer school, or take the entire course over again the following school year,” said Olivero. “Next year, there will be fewer credit recovery course periods offered as only seniors in the class of 2015 will be able to take them,” Olivero added.
According to Head Counselor Sheryl Godfrey, credit recovery classes do not count under the A-G requirements employed by the University of California and California State University school systems; they only enable a student to graduate. The district adopted A-G requirements for graduation beginning with the class of 2016, so the classes are no longer valid for graduation.
Credit Recovery Instructor Deborah Williams said, “Credit recovery is a class aimed mainly at seniors, and it’s used to make up credits for classes you failed.” The class in general is self-paced: students can work at their own speed. “Most kids come in because they need one or two credits, usually to graduate, but there are some who need a lot,” Williams continued.
Senior Alex Diaz said, “I’m taking credit recovery because my freshman year I didn’t pass second semester of English because I never came to school.” Senior Christina Dumas said, “I kept failing Spanish, so I needed another elective.”
However, students in the class of 2016 have different ideas about how the discontinuation of credit recovery will affect them. Sophomore Mariah Wilson said, “I think taking away credit recovery is bad, because I will no longer have a class to fall back on.” An sophomore who wishes to remain anonymous said, “I think credit recovery would be a life-saving thing to resort to if needed.” Sophomore Adam Timms said, “It won’t affect me personally, because I don’t foresee needing credit recovery.”
For the class of 2016 and after, iHigh will still be available. According to Williams, iHigh is a program that allows students to take a class for the first time online if they need a credit. iHigh classes do count for A-G requirements and are not an alternative to credit recovery.