RALEIGH — North Carolina high school students who are taking classes from home because of the coronavirus pandemic soon must come on campus to take state-mandated exams.
In December and January, some high school students across the state will take required state end-of-course exams and state career and technical education post assessment exams. The state is requiring all students to take the tests in person, including families who signed up for virtual programs to avoid having in-person instruction.
"When you sign up for the Virtual Academy, you kind of assume the exams will be virtual too," Anders Rydberg, the parent of two students at Green Hope High School in Cary, said in an interview Wednesday.
Rydberg's daughters are among 25,889 Wake County high school students who are in the district's Virtual Academy program this semester. Similar programs were set up statewide to give options to families concerned about having in-person instruction before a COVID-19 vaccine is developed.
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The stakes are high for students who refuse to take the state exams. The state Board of Education requires the exams to count for at least 20% of a student's final grade in those classes.
Most North Carolina high school students won't take their final fall semester exams until January. But some students, such as those at early college high schools, will have their tests as soon as early December.
The exams will take place at a time when new coronavirus cases are spiking. North Carolina reported Thursday a record single-day total of new COVID-19 cases.
Parents and school leaders are lobbying for changes this semester and in the spring, when elementary and middle school students will also be taking required state tests. N.C. Families For School Testing has more than 1,000 signatures on an online petition calling for the state to waive the exams "to keep students safe."
"We've heard from people statewide, especially people who fully chose the virtual option," Chelsea Bartel, organizer of N.C. Families For School Testing, said in an interview Wednesday. "They never agreed to send their children in for in-person assessments."
Eric Davis, chairman of the State Board of Education, said the board will discuss the testing issue at its December meeting.
Exams required by state
Both the state and federal governments require annual standardized tests to assess school and student performance and to decide on things such as teacher and principal bonuses. The exams were waived last school year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As of now, no waivers have been given for the state exams this school year. President-elect Joe Biden could grant waivers, but he takes office in January after most students will have taken their fall semester exams.
Nora Carr, chief of staff for Guilford County Schools, said Friday evening that the district intends to announce details about its testing plans after Thanksgiving break. She said, for instance, the state requires third-graders take a "Beginning of Grade" assessment in reading.
"While we understand why parents might be concerned, we require face coverings and social distancing, and have numerous health protocols in place," Carr said about in-person testing requirements.
With the fall semester moving closer toward completion, school districts are talking with high school students more now about the state exams. Districts are placing the blame on the state, which says the exams need to be taken in front of a proctor and not virtually to ensure test security.
"The state is requiring students to engage in these assessments on a school campus, even for students who have chosen a virtual option," Brian Pittman, Wake County's senior director of high school programs, said at Tuesday's school board meeting.
Pittman said Wake will encourage every student to participate in state testing where their course calls for that.
Schools offer test accommodations
School districts are trying to make taking in-person exams less stressful.
Wake and Johnston counties are telling students that they can take the exams in smaller than normal groups to maintain social distancing. In Durham, the district says they'll have only 10 to 12 test-takers in each room.
Parents are being told that health and safety guidelines will be followed, such as making sure the testing rooms are cleaned and having hand sanitizer available.
Exam makeup dates will also be offered. The state is letting the makeup dates occur as late as the end of the spring semester and into the summer, when COVID-19 conditions should be better. But that's also months after students have finished those classes.
Even with all the promised precautions, Rydberg, the Virtual Academy parent, says he doesn't feel it's worth the health risk to have his daughters take the tests on campus.
"The state is saying stay home," Rydberg said. "But they want them to come to school to take tests. It's a very conflicting message from the state level."
Durham Public Schools is telling people "there is no student/family opt-out option" because the tests are required. But there is a previously little-used option that's on the table.
Medical exemptions possible
Families can request "medical exceptions" from taking state-required exams. The exemptions allow schools to not count the exams when calculating a student's grade in those classes.
Families make the requests through their school district, which then submits them to an internal committee in the state Department of Public Instruction for approval. But Nathanael Shelton, a spokesman for the Johnston County school system, said, "It is rare that they are approved."
Historically, the bar for getting an exemption is high. For instance, the state testing manual cites examples such as students who can't take tests because they're in the "final stages of terminal or degenerative illness, coma, receiving extensive short-term medical treatment."
Students who don't take the required tests and haven't received an exemption could get a grade of "Incomplete" in those classes.
DPI approved 190 requests last fall and 1,411 requests (including elementary and middle school students) in the 2018-19 school year, according to Graham Wilson, a department spokesman. He said no number on how many requests were rejected was available.
Wilson said no changes have been made yet for reviewing requests for this fall's exams.
Davis, the state board chairman, declined to mention what changes might be considered at the board meeting that will be held Dec. 2-3. But options could include modifying the exemption process and waiving the requirement that the exams count in the final grade.
Some may avoid tests
In Wake County, the school district says it can allow students to skip a state exam even if DPI doesn't approve the exemption request. The district's barometer is whether it considers the request to be valid.
When Wake considers the request to be valid, it takes the average of the first and second quarter grades to determine the student's final grade for the class.
Wake may have to revise its definition this year of what is a valid reason for not taking the state exams, according to Brad McMillen, Wake's assistant superintendent for data, research and accountability.
For instance, McMillen said in a normal year saying you live with an ill grandparent would not qualify. But he said that might be different this year if students are worried about contracting COVID-19 on campus and transmitting it to their ill grandparent.
McMillen said Wake, which is the state's largest district, only got 34 exemption requests last fall. But he said they expect to get more requests this fall.
McMillen said district administrators are talking with attorneys about their legal options for handling the exemption requests and the exams in general. For instance, an idea mentioned at Tuesday's board meeting is whether Wake can only count the state exams if they will raise the student's final grade.
"We're going to have to play it by ear and be sensitive to parents," McMillen said in an interview Wednesday. "We don't want to twist people's arms and put them in an untenable situation."