The county's second-largest school district is requiring about 2,000 juniors and seniors to take the high school exit exam, even though they don't have to pass it to graduate - and other districts may do the same.

Garden Grove Unified board this week agreed to recognize graduates who pass the California High School Exit Exam with a seal on their diploma or a certificate.

The state decided last month to cancel the requirement that this year's juniors and seniors pass the exam to earn a diploma after estimating that about 20 percent of the Class of 2004 would flunk.

School districts are still allowed to give the exam, but can't require it to graduate until the Class of 2006.

Garden Grove officials say the state's decision sells students short.

"I think we owe it to them to follow up on the promise that we and the state made to them," said Alan Trudell, Garden Grove's spokesman. "If they work harder and learn standards, there's a reward for it."

Already, 73 percent of incoming seniors and 63 percent of juniors in Garden Grove have passed the test.

Tania Pantoja, 17, an incoming senior at Rancho Alamitos High, said she is happy that she will be recognized after passing the test as a freshman. But she doesn't think juniors and seniors who failed need to take it.

"I think it's a waste of time," Pantoja said. "It's a waste of a day. You could be learning something else."

State officials were unsure how many school districts plan to continue giving the test, but some of the county's largest districts are considering doing so.

Officials in Santa Ana Unified, the county's largest district with the lowest passing rate, support giving the test, but will weigh the costs and impact before making a decision. Orange Unified plans to give the exit exam or another test to judge whether seniors learned grade-level skills. Saddleback Valley is considering a certificate. Capistrano and Anaheim Union have yet to discuss the issue.