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State Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane announced Friday evening that high school seniors on track to graduate in June who haven’t yet been trained in emergency first aid, CPR or how to use an automated defibrillator will be allowed to graduate anyway.
So too will seniors on track to graduate who had not taken a virtual course (a state requirement).
Additionally, Lane will waive accreditation for each public school for the 2020-2021 school year based on data from 2019-2020. And, school systems will not have to give SOL end-of-course or end-of-grade assessments or alternative assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities for the 2019-2020 school year.
Additionally, school systems to not need to administer spring testing through the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program or give assessments in Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening.
Lane promised to take action quickly on all items, which were authorized by budget amendments proposed by Governor Ralph Northam and approved by the General Assembly during its April 22 reconvened session. The waivers will relieve students, teachers and schools of requirements that are now deemed impossible to meet with the closure of the commonwealth’s schools as a public health measure because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
