Dear Neighbors,

As you know, seniors will have to pass all three parts of the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam in order to earn a diploma this year. As many of you may remember from previous years’ discussion, much work has gone into our current system since 1997.

To help make sure that everyone is up to date and has all the information they need, I will be giving a presentation, "The High School Graduation Qualifying Exam – A Refresher" on Monday at 1:00. I will be presenting a short history of the law from 1997-2001 and what changes were made in 2001 that comprise the current law, and discussing the new regulations that have been adopted by the State Board of Education since 2001.

I think this information will be valuable to parents, students, teachers, and the general public as well. So I'm very pleased that Gavel to Gavel will cover the presentation, airing it on Anchorage cable channel 18. They will also stream the coverage through their website, www.ktoo.org/gavel so that people can either watch or listen on their computers.

In addition, the presentation will be teleconferenced to Legislative Information Offices around the state. However, as this is a presentation, or review, of current law rather than a committee hearing to consider proposed legislation, testimony will not be taken.

If you are able to watch or listen, I would appreciate receiving any comments or questions you may have about the HSGQE. I'll be happy hear from you.

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