Does It Matter If My Kid Doesn’t Take a Regents After Failing the Class?
Last Tuesday, my neighbor Lila banged on my back door at 7:45, right after I finished loading the dishwasher and wiped a peanut butter smudge off the handle. She dragged her 11th grader, Javi, behind her, holding a crumpled, coffee-stained printout of an email from the high school. Javi leaned against my fridge, kicked the vinyl baseboard once, and stared at his scuffed mud-caked work boots. Lila got right to it: Javi failed 10th grade global studies two years ago, did credit recovery over the fall to get the class credit, and just skipped the summer Regents retake. Now she’s panicking that this choice will tank his chance to graduate and get a job. “He says it doesn’t matter,” she said. “I say you can’t just skip a required test. Tell him he has to take it, right?”
Javi mumbled into his hoodie that he works 20 hours a week at the local auto body shop helping Lila pay rent, he’s passing all his current classes, and he’s already studying for the HVAC certification assessment through the school’s career tech program. He just didn’t have time to study for an extra test he swears he doesn’t need. Their old guidance counselor left mid-year, the new one hasn’t gotten back to their emails, so they came to me — I work part-time as a guidance counselor at the same high school, so I get these questions all the time.
I pulled my dog-eared copy of the current New York state graduation requirements off my bookshelf (I keep one by the kitchen table for exactly these kinds of drop-ins) and spread it out next to the half-eaten plate of chocolate chip cookies I’d left out. The first thing I pointed out was that rules have changed a lot since Lila went to high school, when you needed a Regents for every core class to graduate. That’s where a lot of parent panic comes from: we remember what was required when we were teens, and we assume it’s still the same. Now, there are multiple pathways to a valid high school diploma, and Regents requirements shift depending on which path your kid is on.
For Javi, that meant he already had three Regents passed: ELA, algebra, and living environment. He only needed one more approved assessment to graduate with a regular diploma, and his CTE HVAC certification test counts in place of the global studies Regents. So skipping the retake didn’t put his graduation at risk at all. That’s the first concrete thing any parent can check right now, before you spiral: pull up the current graduation requirements on your state education department’s website (they’re all posted for free, no login needed) and count how many required assessments your kid already has. If they’ve already hit the mark for their planned pathway, skipping an extra Regents doesn’t change anything.
The second big question people always ask is what it means for college or future jobs. I’ve been doing this long enough to have seen both sides. Twelve years ago, I had a senior who failed chemistry, skipped the Regents retake, already had enough credits and assessments to graduate, and went straight to welding school at the local community college. No admissions officer ever asked to see his individual Regents scores; they just needed proof he had a valid high school diploma. He now makes $82,000 a year as a welder for a local construction company, and he’s never once needed that chemistry Regents. On the other hand, I had a senior three years ago who changed his mind mid-spring of 12th grade: he’d planned to do HVAC, then decided he wanted to go to a four-year program for elementary ed, which required all five core Regents for admission. He had to cram three retakes into one semester to graduate on time. That was a hassle, but it wasn’t impossible.
The key point I walked Lila and Javi through that night is that it’s not that Regents never matter — it’s that they only matter in specific scenarios, and most of the time, you can fix it later if plans change. Most districts let you sign up to take Regents as a non-graduating student for up to three years after you leave high school, so it’s not a permanent, one-time “no” if your kid changes their mind down the line. The concrete steps I suggested for any parent in this spot are simple: First, schedule a 15-minute in-person check-in with your kid’s guidance counselor, don’t just wait for a reply to an email. Most counselors are swamped, but a quick drop-in when they have a free period will get you a clear answer faster. Second, write down your kid’s current 2-3 year plan, and map what they actually need for that plan. If they’re going to a trade program at community college, they almost never need extra Regents beyond what’s required for a diploma. If they’re set on a competitive four-year program right out of high school, double check the admission requirements. Third, if it turns out you don’t need the Regents now, don’t force your kid to waste time and energy on a test that doesn’t serve their current goals.
I saw Lila at the bus stop yesterday morning, and we chatted for a minute while we waited for our younger kids. Javi just passed his CTE practice assessment, he’s on track to graduate next spring, and he’s already lined up a summer apprenticeship with a local HVAC company. Lila still admits she has a little niggling worry sometimes — what if he changes his mind later? What if this was a mistake? But Javi’s showing up to work every shift, showing up to class every day, and building a plan that fits his life right now. He doesn’t have the bandwidth to study for an unnecessary test on top of everything else he’s juggling, and that’s okay.
There’s no perfect, one-size-fits-all answer here. Some kids need to take that retake, some don’t. Right now, for Javi, skipping the Regents was the right call. He’ll cross that bridge if he ever needs to later. For now, he’s moving forward, one step at a time.
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