NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York State Regents exams scheduled for January have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, education officials said Thursday.
It’s the third time the statewide standardized tests for high school students have been canceled since the pandemic began; the exams were abandoned in June and August.
Betty A. Rosa, the state’s interim education commissioner, said the tests were scrapped after her department “determined the January Regents Exams could not be safely, equitably and fairly administered across the state given where the pandemic currently stands.”
Students across New York have been left with widely varying schedules because of the pandemic, with some kids in school most of the week and others learning entirely remotely at home, making it difficult to fairly administer the tests, Rosa said in a memo.
“We will continue to monitor applicable data and make a decision on other state assessment programs as the school year progresses, being mindful of the evolving situation,” Rosa said.
No decisions have been made yet about the Regents exams scheduled for June and August 2021 or any of the other state assessment programs, according to officials.
Under proposed emergency regulations by the Education Department, students who planned to take the exams will be exempt from previous requirements to get a diploma. To qualify for the exemption, the student must meet one of the following requirements:
• Be currently enrolled in a course of study that would ordinarily culminate in the taking of a January 2021 Regents Examination and earn credit for such course of study by the end of the first semester of the 2020-21 school year; or
• Between September 1, 2020 and the end of the first semester of the 2020-21 school year, successfully complete a make-up program for the purpose of earning course credit; or
• Be preparing to take a required Regents Examination to graduate at the end of the first semester of the 2020-21 school year.
More information about the cancellation of the exams can be found at NYSED.gov.
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