When 10th graders fail to pass the California High School Exit Examination the first time, they have multiple opportunities to retake it. They can still take the exam, which is a requirement for high school graduation, during their junior and senior years with remedial instructions available to them.

But what about adults who are no longer enrolled in high school but would like to try it again and get credited for it? They, too, have another chance to pass that graduation requirement “for whatever reason, perhaps for employment,” said Steve Moretto, Manteca Unified coordinator of compensatory education and testing and evaluation.

What they need to do is to enroll in the Manteca Adult School, go through the process that they have in place for taking the exit exam, and then take the test.

The High School Exit Examination may not be a requirement for attending adult school, “but if a student chooses to do that,” they need to pass the exam to obtain their high school diploma, Moretto said.

Sophomores, or students in 10th grade when the exit exams are administered the first time prior to graduation, have many remedial instruction opportunities at their disposal until their senior year to pass that mandated graduation hurdle. Students who have not passed the exams during their initial tries are identified at their various school sites and are then provided with opportunities for remedial instructions. Each high school site in the district has these assistance offered, Moretto said.

“Those who are not successful are given additional instruction through their senior year and are given multiple opportunities to retake (the exit exam) and pass it, he added.

For Manteca Unified, the two exit exams are in the English-Language Arts and Math subjects.

As far as where Manteca Unified stood against the State of California and San Joaquin County schools in the percentage passing rates, Moretto said, “Manteca, for this past year (in the 10th grade exams) matched the state.” The district’s passing rate in the English-Language Arts was 83 percent, the same as all students in California. San Joaquin County’s passing rate number was six points above that, or 89 percent.

In the Math exit exams for the same period, Manteca Unified’s passing rate was 82 percent. The numbers for San Joaquin County schools was 89 percent, while the posted number for California was 84 percent.

Be that as it may, “We have a good rate compared to a lot of school districts. Our high schools are doing a good job with that,” said Moretto.

Additionally, the percentage of all passing rates includes students with disabilities as well as students “who might be English learners,” he said.