In 2015, the State Board of Education convened the High School Credit Flexibility Task Force to consider whether to provide additional options for DC students to earn high school credit.  The Task Force included State Board members and representatives from the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), the Public Charter School Board (PCSB), local education agencies (LEAs) and schools, OSSE, the Washington Teacher’s Union, and business leaders.  On December 16, 2015, the State Board of Education adopted a resolution accepting the recommendations of the Task Force and advising the State Superintendent to consider the recommendations and initiate rulemaking.
 
OSSE subsequently developed rulemaking to update graduation requirements based on the recommendations of the Task Force, including establishing a process for waiving the Carnegie Unit requirement for a school seeking to award competency based unit(s).
 
In alignment with the Task Force’s recommendation, the final rulemaking (Section 2203 of the D.C. Municipal Regulations Title 5-A, Chapter 22) indicates that OSSE establishes the information required to be included in the waiver application and the format, as well as the standards and requirements for reviewing the application.  DCPS or PCSB (“reviewing body”) may waive the Carnegie Unit for DCPS schools and public charter schools, respectively.
 
See the Waiver to Award Competency-Based Unit(s): Application Information and Standards and Requirements for Review document below for additional information.  Questions from schools regarding the waiver application process should be directed to DCPS or DC PCSB.