FARMINGTON – A public policy research paper written by a group of students at Mt. Blue High School finds the new graduation requirements put into place this year to be confusing and inconsistent.

The five-page report, complete with pie graphs and charts, and data from teacher and student polls, has galvanized the RSU 9 board to reopen discussion of the grading system and the contentious graduation policy.

Following the presentation Tuesday to the board, Chairman Mark Prentiss commended them on their research and said the policy discussion would be reopened.

But Mt. Blue Principal Monique Poulin said the issue has been hashed over enough and teachers feel they have voiced their objections already.

“Nothing we can say is more important than what these students are saying,” she said.

The policy paper was presented to the board Tuesday by students Rachel Karno, Luke Pane and Derek Hoyt. The research was done by Nate Theriault’s Advanced Placement U.S. history class and Evan Botting’s AP statistics class. A half-dozen classmates were the audience.

At issue is the requirement that was passed in 2006-07 and put into effect this school year that requires graduating students have a 70 cumulative grade point average, or GPA, for all four years of work.

At the same time, a grade of 60, or D-minus, is required to pass a class and get credit. Twenty-four credits are required to graduate.

The report concludes that to avoid confusion, the same number should be used for a passing grade and for class credit.

There was no consensus among the staff and students polled in separate surveys on whether the grade should be 60 or 70 or some number in between.

In fact, the paper states the GPA requirement should be removed completely.

“The introduction of a GPA graduation requirement, and its inconsistency with the passing grade, have brought tremendous confusion,” Karno said.

The study found that faculty were frustrated over not being consulted on the new requirements. And because they were excluded from the decision-making process, they were unable to fully grasp the logic behind them or the future implications of the policy’s implementation.

The consequences of this communication were apparent when the issue came up during what was supposed to be a routine meeting of the Class of 2012 to discuss registration for the following year.

In a heated debate with students, staff could not answer questions about the so-called 60/70 policy. Students were just as confused, Karno said.

The problem is the policy’s inconsistency, she said.

“A student who has passed his/her classes with a grade of 60 or above should expect to graduate on the same standard on which he/she passed each grade level,” according to the paper.

“The current policy, however, creates two different sets of standards, encouraging proficiency in some subject areas rather than in all.”

In addition, the report found anecdotal evidence suggesting students are taking lower level classes to obtain the necessary grade-point average they need to graduate.

Also, some students who are struggling are simply unable to raise their GPA in one year.

Last fall, a school poll of the faculty showed unanimous opposition to the 60/70 policy. At that time, the staff and school administrators predicted there would be confusion over the two different grades.

The 70 GPA was instituted because some board members and Superintendent Michael Cormier argued more rigor should be required for students to receive a diploma after four years at Mt. Blue.

They supported the 60/70 policy since it gave a student who was weak in one area a chance to overcome the low grade with a strong performance in another.

Several directors on Tuesday questioned why some students seemed unaware of the policy.

“Students have been reminded of the graduation requirements every year but it was not firmly embedded,” Karno said.

Teacher Dan Ryder, who works with incoming freshmen, said it would be simpler for everyone if there was “one number.”

“The reality is that until there are concrete consequences, it is not their reality,” he said.

Guidance counselor Ben Milster said when a student’s GPA is below 70, parents get a written notification and are told what needs to be done for a student to pull up a grade. There are also remedial, after-school and extended year programs available, he said.

Principal Poulin said this year, under the new policy, five seniors did not graduate and either dropped out, took another year to complete their work, or are taking a diploma program through Adult Education.