More minority students in Montgomery County Public Schools failed the Maryland exit exams than in 2009, instead completing projects to secure diplomas.

About 10 percent of both black and Hispanic students qualified to graduate through the Bridge Plan for Academic Validation, an alternative project meant to demonstrate subject mastery. Students must fail the Maryland High School Assessments, or HSAs, at least twice before being eligible for the Bridge Plan. In 2009, less than 5 percent of Hispanic students and 7.6 percent of black students required the alternative.