What happens to a High School student if they reach age 19 (or whatever the maximum age) before graduation, due to being held back a year or so?
I’m not sure they even hold students back anymore. I haven’t heard of even a school-age kid being held back since the early 1990s,
In my county, maybe my state, you cannot be in regular high school past age 18. This might not apply to students who are continually enrolled. The student must go to an adult education program.
But if someone has been held back a year or more, they could quite easily exceed age 18.
This has not happened to anyone I know, so its only hypothetical. But I have recently learned that once a student is older than 18, that is, 19 or older, they have to enroll as an adult in an adult education program
And I HAVE known middle school students in the past who would eventually reach that dilemma due to being held back.
Of course, in some cases, it is a liability to have young adults among high school students. This is why the rule was instated.
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Don’t they just graduate with everyone else?
You can’t even be IN high school past age 18,
I know someone who couldn’t bring a prom date who was 19. They are getting strict about this, I guess to be on the safe side but probably too stringent.
I had a classmate who was a year older than the rest of us because he had dropped out in the 3rd grade due to illness. I have the class picture of our 8th grade class in our caps & gowns including his little sister. We all went on to graduate from different high schools in the same year, with him turning 19 midway through his senior year. No one thought anything about it. But that was then.
In Canada if age 21 or older one is expected to go to Adult High School as the Public Education System will not fund them in the regular High School Program.
At age 19 it is not a problem if almost finished school.
( they are still supported until age 21..then it cuts off).
My son (currently 23) was held back from kindergarten for a year. He turned 18 two weeks after his junior year ended, so he was 18 his whole Senior year. He would not have been at all disrupted if he was three month older and turned 19 during the school year.
We’re in California, by the way.
One grandson ,who was homeschooled until high school, attended an outreach program which was part of the public school system. He was 20 before he completed all the graduation requirements, and received a graduation ceremony with the rest of the graduates that year.
The program was a mix of home school and meeting twice a week with a teacher.
I think the example of the 19 year old not allowed at the prom is a case of; they are not a student at the school rather than they were too old.
My local school has a student only policy for Proms.
I’ve never heard of such a thing. The school kicks a kid out if he turns 19 in high school? What if he turns 19 the last month of his senior year?
It’s actually a thing for boys to start kindergarten late, or essentially being held back by their parents. Especially, if the kid is within a few days of the cut off. Some parents hold their boys back hoping their son will have an athletic advantage. Some schools won’t go along with it.
I’ve never heard that being 19 is a problem in high school. I graduated high school in 1985, and my boyfriend turned 19 in May in 12th grade. He was held back because he didn’t speak English well, and that’s just what they did back then. If I remember correctly he was old enough to start first grade, but they made him go into kindergarten.
A friend of mine could decide whether to put her twins ahead or keep them back, their birth date right on the border. I’m
pretty sure she kept them back. My guess is they will be 19 in their senior year. Her kids are just starting high school now I think? I lose track.
In Tennessee you cannot register for regular high school if you are older than 18.
You must finish in an adult program.
As others have suggested, exceptions are probably / usually made for those who are in their final year, who have been enrolled previous years.
Can a district refuse to enroll or withdraw a student who is 18 years old or older?
No. Decisions to deny enrollment or withdraw teenage students may never be made based solely on the student’s age. A student who turns 18 during the school year may drop out of school without consent of the school district or the student’s parents. This is because Tennessee’s compulsory attendance laws apply to children between 6 and 17 years old, both inclusive. T.C.A. 49–6-3005(a). However, this does not mean that schools are no longer open to 18 year old students.
^^^^^ https://www.tn.gov/sbe/about-us/frequently-asked-questions.html ^^^^^^^
They don’t flunk kids anymore? That’s a shame. I flunked the 2nd grade and it really opened up my eyes and helped me realize the concept of cause and effect. I slowly became a good student and graduated from high school at age 19½ in 1970 in LA. I don’t think that anyone cared about my age. Went on to graduate from college with a BA in Zoology.
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