School Day Goes Into Overtime

Deasy said he intends to present a proposal to the Board of Education in January to make the program mandatory for students who failed tests. There are other ways around the problem. If students don't fail any of the four tests too badly and get a total score above a certain level, they can graduate. Passing scores on Advanced Placement tests can also function as substitutes for High School Assessment tests in some cases.

But those who enroll in the Twilight Academy are not yet out of the woods. They still have to learn.

By the time Guinn's algebra class begins at 4 p.m., the sun is setting. Guinn has been at school since 7:30 a.m. and the students almost as long. Guinn said a core group of 10 or 11 students usually comes to the 90-minute class, which meets twice a week. On this day, 11 students show up. They each missed passing the test by fewer than 15 points. Students must score 412 points to pass.

Not all the students are engaged. As Guinn shows them how to solve a problem with a calculator, one girl in a camouflage top has her head down on her desk, her arm dangling over the edge. Another student in the front row, Lakeesha Warley, 16, is starting to flag.

"Sweetie, come on, work with me," Guinn tells her. "I'm tired, too."

Barney Watlington, 15, is fiddling with his hair, hiding something. Ashley Scott, 15, sitting two seats in front of him in the half-empty room, is delighted to poke fun at Barney, who had been shouting out answers to the questions, all of them incorrect.

"Barney got a soda can top stuck on his head," she announces.

"I don't know how I did that," Barney says as his fellow students laugh. He yanks the piece of aluminum out of his hair. "It hurt."

"Barney, just shut up," Ashley says.

Guinn puts a lid on this right away, getting back to the problem at hand.

"What is the median?" she asks.

"The middle," several students call out.