Nearly 300 Newark seniors are in danger of not receiving high school diplomas this school year, after failing the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), a state-mandated test seniors must pass in order to graduate, it was announced at Tuesday night's advisory board business meeting.

Of the 292 seniors who did not pass the HSPA or its equivalent, the Alternate High School Assessment (AHSA), only 163 have enough credits to graduate in June, while the remaining 129 need to attend summer school in order to meet credit requirements by August, according to a presentation by Deputy Chief Academic Officer Roger Leon. About 1,100 students have already passed the HSPA, which is first administered in March of junior year.

In order to graduate, a student needs 110 credits and must pass the HSPA, a comprehensive exam in language arts and mathematics. A student has five total chances to pass the state test: The HSPA is administered three times, but if failed each time, a student can take the AHSA twice.

Two recently revamped appeals phases were offered to students who failed both the HSPA and the AHSA, which is currently entering the third and final window. According to Leon's presentation, 148 Newark students have submitted appeals to the New Jersey Department of Education. Thirty-five appeals were submitted during the first phase with over 25 being approved.

Advisory board chair Eliana Pintor Marin was surprised to see that 124 students - the majority of the 292 total - from Barringer High School did not pass the final window of the HSPA and AHSA.

"Does this reflect anything that had to do with the scheduling problems that we had at Barringer?" Marin asked Leon.

The high number, compared to the other 11 high schools, can be blamed on a number of problems, said Leon.

"The fact that they're not scheduled properly for respective classes is one of the definite indicators," he said. "Not coming to school is another definite indicator with regards to that."

Marin and other board members expressed the need for a plan of action in order to help the failing students graduate, a problem that is currently being addressed, according to Leon. School counselors will be on hand this summer to provide social services, a program initiated two years ago, but was put on hiatus last year. Attendance counselors and a selective group of teachers, who will form a HSPA Academy, have been hired to pitch in. Students also have the option of attending virtual high school this summer.

Juniors who did not perform adequately on the state test this school year are required to attend summer school to prepare them to pass come fall, said Leon.

"The catch is going to be to make sure that … they're actually coming to school and, what's extremely important, what are they being provided when they actually arrive," he said. "So, as it relates to the fall, we need to make sure students are taking advantage of all of the services we're providing them this summer."

The third and final administration of the AHSA is on July 13.

See chart below for a breakdown of students who did not pass the AHSA by high school.

Three high schools were not reflected in Tuesday night's presentation: American History High School, University High School and Science Park High School.