Education Laws and Regulations

603 CMR 30.00:

Standards for Competency Determination and Local Graduation Requirements

Section:


Most Recently Amended by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education: May 20, 2025

30.02: Definitions

Board shall mean the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, appointed in accordance with M.G.L. c. 15, § 1E.

Commissioner shall mean the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Competency Determination shall have the same meaning as described in M.G.L. c. 69, § 1D (i), as amended. In accordance with M.G.L. c.69, § 1D (i), satisfaction of the requirements of the Competency Determination shall be a condition for high school graduation. A school committee (including the board of trustees of a charter school and, for publicly-funded Massachusetts special education students, the governing board of a private day or residential special education program) shall award the high school diploma or any other document connoting high school graduation only to a student who has satisfied the Competency Determination requirement and who has met local graduation requirements.

Department shall mean the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

District shall mean a municipal school department or regional school district, acting through its school committee or superintendent of schools, a county agricultural school, acting through its board of trustees or superintendent/director, or any other public school established by statute or charter, acting through its governing board or director.

Graduating Class shall refer to the school year in which the student receives a high school diploma.

Local graduation requirements shall mean graduation criteria established by the student's school district including attendance, course completion and satisfactory grades.

MCAS shall mean the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, the statewide assessment of individual students' academic performance, as required by M.G.L. c. 69, § 1I.

MCAS high school assessments administered in 2023 shall mean MCAS high school assessments in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Technology/Engineering.

Satisfactorily completing coursework shall mean a student earns full credit in accordance with the district's grading policy.

Showing mastery shall mean a student successfully completes in accordance with the district's grading policy: (1) the final assessment for a course; or (2) a capstone or portfolio project; or (3) an equivalent measure identified in the district's Competency Determination policy.

Student with a disability shall mean a student who has been determined to be eligible for special education services in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or M.G.L. c.71B and 603 CMR 28.00 (special education), or who has been determined to be an individual with disabilities under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Regulatory Authority:
603 CMR 30.00: M.G.L. c. 69, §§ 1B and 1D; St. 2003, c.140, §119.

Disclaimer:
For an official copy of these regulations, please contact the State House Bookstore, at 617-727-2834 or visit Massachusetts State Bookstore .

Last Updated: June 13, 2025

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