Last year, 45.1 percent of sophomores in the Edmonds School District passed all three sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL. The hundreds who didn’t can still graduate.

This year’s sophomores face far more pressure. This is the first year 10th-graders statewide must pass the WASL to earn their diplomas as seniors.

A number of factors — from WASL retakes to support classes to proposed alternate assessments — may help ease students’ nervousness as they await their scores, due out in June.

First, students who don’t meet standard on the WASL can retake the test four times at no cost. The first retakes are Aug. 7-10.

The district is offering free summer courses July 10 through Aug. 4 to help students at various levels of proficiency pass the test. How many students will actually take those offerings is unknown, said Ken Limon, assistant superintendent.

“One of the issues will be how many parents had planned to send their kid to summer school in July, (considering) family vacations and other plans,” he said. “They may just say, ‘I’ll take it again next year.’”

The fact that scores come out in June and summer school starts weeks later complicates the situation, he said.

Some students may not have to spend all four weeks in the classroom, however.

“Some students may only need a few weeks,” Limon said.

District officials also are preparing an arsenal of support classes that will run next year.

The classes will be funded with state money, through the Promoting Academic Success program. District officials won’t know how much money the district will receive until they know how many students didn’t meet standard.

The district could receive about $72,000 for summer offerings and about $422,000 for support classes next year, according to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI.

No WASL offerings have been finalized yet, but district officials are considering the following:

• Short two-week classes before or after school.

• An expanded Saturday Breakfast Club. The club, where students now get tutoring, could offer WASL preparation.

• Tutors for small groups of students of like need during scheduling gaps in the school day.

• Zero period tutoring.

• After school classes in math, reading and writing.

• Three-week WASL camps.

Other offerings are on their way.

“We’re in the process of leasing an online math curriculum that we’re confident would help kids meet math standard. It’s currently being prepared and should be ready to unveil at the end of June,” Limon said.

The online curriculum could be taught at school in a lab setting. Some WASL classes also may fit into the regular school schedule, Limon said.

District officials expect pass rates to rise by 10 percent this year from last year. In other states, pass rates jumped the first year the test was required for graduation.

“We’re looking for at least 10 (percent), because kids took it seriously,” Limon said. “They took a lot of time.”

If students fail the test a second time, they could have the option of alternate assessments. This year, the state legislature passed a law outlining what those assessments should look like. OSPI must implement two of them in the 2006-07 school year.

The details have yet to be hammered down, but in blanket terms, students who fail the test could still graduate on the basis of:

• A combination of their grades in applicable courses and their highest score on the WASL.

• A collection of student work samples, or portfolio.

“If the state goes to a portfolio position, we’ll be well-prepared,” Limon said.

That’s because next year, for the first time, students in the district will gather samples of their work in different subjects. The samples, or “Graduation Performance Tasks,” will not be required to graduate next year, but they could eventually be used as an alternate assessment to the WASL.

• A career and technical education collection of work samples.

Still, district officials are intensely focused on the upcoming test results.

“There’s a great deal of anticipation, a lot of hope that the things we’ve been doing for years result in more kids meeting standard,” Limon said. “At the same time, we’re more nervous.”