By Elora Brow
Online Opinion Editor
Mira Costa does not allow students to take courses off campus during the school year; however, students still have the opportunity to take their required graduation course off campus over the summer, instead of during the year. Costa’s policy is fair overall because students should take responsibility for their transcripts, counselors deal with students’ grades, and Costa has to abide by California law.
According to the Costa offcampus course information that can be found on the Costa website, students can take courses off campus during the year as long as they are not graduation requirements. If the course is a graduation requirement, then students have the option to take the course off campus during the summer only. When students take an off- campus course, they are responsible for their own transcript from the school to show that they completed the course.
According to the Costa off campus information, when a student requests transfer credit, such as from summer school, students have to obtain their guidance counselor’s approval before taking desired classes at another school. This is a feasible condition because if a student’s counselor does not believe that he or she is suited to complete a class at an off-campus site, the student should not have the right or opportunity to do so.
In addition, according to the Costa off-campus course information, students are responsible for having the official transcript from the other school sent to the Mira Costa registrar if the pre-approved course needs to be added to the student’s transcript. This is understandable if the student is taking a course at another school as it should be students’ responsibility to have their other transcript sent over to Costa in order to receive credit for the course.
Although it may appear discriminatory that Costa does not permit students to take required classes for graduation off campus during the year, according to the California law, students are not allowed to be enrolled in more than one school during the year.
Because students are not permitted to register in more than one school during the year, as stated by the law, students should be satisfied with Costa’s policy. Overall, Costa’s regulations are reasonable for all students because the school is simply abiding by the law.
In conclusion, Costa’s students should be satisfied with the off- campus course regulations because they provide students with a variety of opportunities to take classes off campus during the summer, while still adhering to state law.
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