Most of the graduation numbers are in for this year and it appears the state's AIMS exit exam is nearly impossible to fail.
With 90 percent of high school graduation reports in hand, the state reported Wednesday that only 297 students, or 0.6 percent, didn't get a diploma because they failed the AIMS test.
The 10 percent of schools left to report is unlikely to drive the number to the 1,000 students the state estimated in May, officials said.
The failure rate was so low partly because several thousand students used bonus points from core classes to trump their AIMS failure and get a diploma anyway.
The bonus points, created by the Legislature last year, saved at least 2,630 students from not graduating.
That number will likely increase because nearly half of the high schools have not yet reported the test-augmentation results.
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State schools chief Tom Horne said he isn't happy the bonus points gave so many 2006 graduates a boost.
Horne said it weakened the purpose of the test and allowed many students to graduate without the skills they needed.
Next year, the bonus plan gets even more generous, as students will receive extra test points for A, B and C grades for both elective and core courses, including band and drama.
This year's senior class was the first that had to pass the AIMS test to get a diploma.
After tens of thousands of students continued to fail the basic reading, writing and math exam, politicians began making it easier and creating loopholes out of fear over voter backlash and effects on students.
The bonus-point process had varied results among districts, raising state officials' concern that the plan wasn't implemented in a uniform way.
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