POULSBO — Though passing the Washington Assessment of Student Learning exam isn’t yet mandatory for high school seniors, it will already appear on current 11th graders’ transcripts — inducing the state to foot the bill for a free re-take.

A memo from Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the state’s school districts last Friday informed administrators that any current high school junior can re-take the exam in the spring of 2005.

“I think it’s only fair to the kids that if we’re going to put it on their transcripts when they didn’t know about it, we need to give them the opportunity to retake it,” commented North Kitsap School Board President Catherine Ahl.

In early January 2005, a letter signed by NKSD Director of Curriculum and Assessment Wally Lis and NKHS Principal Roy Herrera will be sent home to all parents of NKHS juniors stating that the free retake will be offered.

Juniors or their parents must notify the district by Feb. 4 if they would like a chance to retake the test.

The state had planned to re-administer the WASL free to students who did not pass the test during their sophomore year but charge a $15 fee for any junior who had passed but was looking to improve scores. The late announcement of the fee charge, however, convinced the state to foot the bill for any junior seeking a retake.

“From the timeliness standpoint, we were struggling to communicate,” Lis said. “The fee will show up — just not this year.”

The state legislature chose to add the WASL to college transcripts for this year’s juniors during last year’s session, Lis said, noting that the addition gives the schools another benchmark for which to admit students, much like the SAT or ACT.

The WASL tests four main areas: reading, writing, math and science and is taken currently by fourth, seventh and 10th graders in the state’s public schools.

The class of 2008 will be the first group of students who will have to pass the WASL in order to graduate, taking the test in the spring of 2006 as sophomores. The state has set several contingency plans for students who don’t pass the first time. Failing students will have four additional chances — one per semester during their junior and senior years — in which to retake the test.

If the students cannot pass the WASL, they must demonstrate to a local board, whose members and the rules of which have not yet been established, that they should receive a high school diploma by other means.