Pasadena ISD re-opens TARA program

PASADENA ISD Re-Opens Alternative Re-certification program for former students to earn their high school diploma
Posted on 10/21/2020
This is the image for the news article titled PASADENA ISD Re-Opens Alternative Re-certification program for former students to earn their high school diplomaPasadena ISD has re-opened the Texas Alternative Recertification Application (TARA) Program, which allows former PISD students who entered ninth grade before the 2011-2012 school year, and did not successfully pass all required state assessments, an opportunity to earn their high school diploma under Texas Senate Bill 463.

TARA provides an alternative path for students who completed the curriculum requirements for high school graduation, but did not pass end-of-course exams, such as:

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) 
Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) 
Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS)  

The TARA program, which began in 2018 at Pasadena ISD, was forced to halt the application process due to COVID-19 school closures in March of 2020.  As of October 1, Pasadena ISD has started accepting applications once again from potentially eligible individuals.

Prospective graduates must submit an application for the alternative graduation path by contacting Community School at 713-740-0298 or [email protected] to schedule an appointment for submitting paperwork.  Potential students will need to apply using the first and last name on file when enrolled at Pasadena ISD.

Upon submitting an application and any supporting materials to Community School, the district will assess the application for eligibility and assign a project for students to complete to demonstrate proficiency in the test area that they failed.  Applications will be reviewed on a month-to-month basis.

The applications for fall 2020 will be accepted October 1 to November 13 and January 1 to March 26 for the spring 2021 semester.