(Radio Iowa – Des Moines) A change that gives those who failed for one reason or another to get a high school diploma another option to go back and get it is moving close to reality. The State Board of Education signed off on the rule change for the high school equivalency requirements during their meeting last week. Department of Education spokesman, Jeremy Varner, says those who have wanted to get the missed high school diploma had only had one option.

“For a number of decades, the only way a student or adult could attain a high school equivalency diploma if they didn’t earn a high school diploma, was to take a high stakes test. For about 75 years that was the G-E-D,” Varner says. The process was changed a few years ago to require you to take a battery of five tests to prove your worthiness. “One thing that we heard clearly from a number of stakeholders was that the test battery can be very intimidating for many students, it’s not the best fit for many students,” Varner explains. “We had a task force spend a year-and-a-half taking a good hard look at the way students can demonstrate competency equivalent to a high school diploma — and they found some other approaches that have worked in other states.”

The Legislature gave the Board of Education approval to move forward and Varner says they’ve settled on the rules that allow students to use credits they’ve obtained after high school to count toward their high school diploma. “So if a student dropped out of high school only a couple of classes shot of graduation, they could bundle high school and college credits and obtain an equivalency diploma,” Varner says. “Or if they’ve obtained other postsecondary credentials beyond an associate’s degree or have a degree from a foreign country, they could demonstrate competency in those ways.”

Varner, who is the community colleges division administrator for the Education Department, says the new proposal also allows you to use knowledge you’ve gained for your job to obtain the high school degree. “So if they have work experience equivalent to some education they can earn credit for that.So they can combine the education and experience they already have with some additional courses that would round that out so they can obtain a high school diploma,” he says.

Varner says for example, someone that’s taken classes to become a welder and started working in the field could use that experience toward obtaining the high school diploma. The new rules contain a formula for determining how the other experience translates into high school credits for the degree. He says they don’t have an exact count on how many people try to get their high school equivalency each year, but believe it could be hundreds.

“So it could easily be 500 to 700 students a year who could benefit from this opportunity,” Varner says. There will be a public hearing on the rule change October 31st from ten to 11 a-m in the Education Department’s board room at the Grimes State Office Building in Des Moines. Varner says following the hearing the new option could be in place by January. The five-test battery will still be available for those who want to take it to try and earn the high school degree.

Three people were arrested over the past few days, in Creston. According to Creston Police, 48-year old Tyrone Davis, of Creston, was arrested at around 2:30-a.m. Saturday, for OWI/2nd offense. He was later released from the Union County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Friday morning, 20-year old Brandon Barrett, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Violation of Pretrial Release on the original charge of Controlled Substance Violation. He is being held in the Union County Jail without bond.

And, Thursday night, 28-year old Kyle Hoadley, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a charge of 5th Degree Theft. He was subsequently released from the Union County Jail on a Promise to Appear in court.

And, Friday evening, an Afton woman reported that on Friday, sometime between
5:45-and 6:35-p.m., someone stole a tailgate off of a 1973 Jeep J20 truck that was
parked across from A&G Restaurant in Creston (the 200 block of W. Adams). The loss was estimated at $500.

Officials with the Audubon County Emergency Management Office report a bridge replacement project on 200th Street in Audubon County will require the closure of 200th Street, between Dove and Eagle Avenues (Douglas Township sections 22 and 27).

Work on the project will begin tomorrow (Tuesday, September 19th), weather permitting. The bridge will be replaced with a culvert. The project is expected to take about four-to-six weeks to complete.

Officials are asking emergency response teams to plan alternate routes. Anyone with questions is asked to contact the County Engineer at 712-563-4286.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Administrators say a swastika was carved into an elevator on campus at Drake University in Des Moines and a racist message left outside an African-American student’s dorm room in a cowardly attack.

The Des Moines Register reports that the message was left on a whiteboard on the door of a first-year student over the weekend. In an email to students Sunday, Drake University President Marty Martin called the content of the message “the most offensive of racial epithets” and the vandalism “cowardly.” He says the markings and message have been removed.

Martin encouraged anyone with information about the vandalism to report it.