The News ObserverSchools in western North Carolina struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene could get relief from the consequences of high-stakes state tests this semester.
The State Board of Education voted Thursday to request a federal accountability waiver for school districts and charter schools that have lost significant amounts of school time due to the historic flooding from Helene.
The state wants to exempt Helene-affected schools from the academic consequences when scores likely drop during fall semester state end-of-course exams.
“Students will take their EOCs,” Deputy State Superintendent Michael Maher told the state board on Wednesday. “The reason for that is we want to have a good sense of where students are academically. They can then use that data in a more formative way without the consequences attached to it.”
The EOC exams in Math 1, Math 3, English II and biology are typically given in high schools in January. But some middle school students take the Math 1 test.
The state board is required to get public comment on the waiver even as it has gone ahead to make the request.
The EOC exams and state end-of-grade exams given in elementary and middle schools are required by federal law to assess the academic progress of students as well as public schools. Due to the pandemic. North Carolina and other states received a federal testing waiver in the 2019-20 school year to not give the exams.
Lost instructional time for NC students affected by Helene
On Sept. 27, Helene dumped massive amounts of rain in western North Carolina, which has caused extensive damage to the region. Some students have missed more than a month of classes.
Based on what happened during the pandemic, Maher said state education officials realize that academic performance will likely suffer from the lost instructional time from Helene.
“We did not want to see schools negatively impacted for something that they really had no way to address,” Maher said.
Testing waivers are normally only given to individual schools after events such as a school shooting right before the testing window, according to Maher.
Instead, the state will seek an accountability waiver. Maher said they’ve already talked with the U.S Department of Education and are optimistic it will be approved.
“Waiving these requirements will allow schools to focus on returning students to instruction without the high stakes of performing well on end-of-course summative assessments used for accountability determinations,” State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said in a Nov. 5 letter to U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona .
“The waivers will allow students to receive the support needed to reengage in instruction, increasing the opportunity to recoup learning. Students would take the assessments, but the uses of the assessments would be waived to ensure invalid data is not included in the accountability analyses.”
Eligible school districts and charter schools in the hard-hit areas would be able to join the waiver if it’s granted.
The waiver doesn’t cover state end-of-grade exams because they’re given in the spring.
Helene relief for schools in Western NC
Other relief is coming for western North Carolina schools.
The General Assembly has approved two Helene relief bills, totaling $897 million . Some of the money is going to public schools, including $50 million for repairs and renovations, $16 million to replace lost pay for school cafeteria workers and $5 million for mental health support for students and school staff.
State lawmakers are returning to Raleigh this month and could approve additional aid.
Lawmakers are allowing hard-hit schools to not have to make up as many as 40 days of missed classes. Schools are normally required to have 1,025 hours of instruction or 185 days of classes each school year.
Affected schools are also being temporarily exempted from the school calendar law so they can hold classes as late as June 30.
The state board will also vote Thursday on Helene waivers for third-grade students in the Read To Achieve program and high school students who need career and technical education credits.