Emergency rules approved… State Board of Education adopts emergency measures in response to tornado damage, COVID-19

Published 12:10 am Monday, April 13, 2020

Tennessee’s State Board of Education met in a statewide teleconference on Thursday to approve emergency rules in response to statewide closing of schools during the spring semester of the 2019-20 school year.

After approval, the rules were forwarded to the State’s Attorney General for approval and will be filed with the Secretary of State’s office. Once that takes place, the rules will be in effect immediately and will stay in effect for 180 days.

Some of the important emergency measures which affect educators and students statewide include:

– A student in the 12th grade in the 2019-20 school year shall receive as their spring semester grade no grade lower than the grade they earned in the course as of March 20, 2020.

– In order to graduate in the 2019-20 school year, students must earn a minimum of twenty (20) credit hours which shall include the following subjects: 1. Four (4) credits of mathematics as described in the State Board’s High School Policy 2.103;2. Four (4) credits of English language arts as described in the State Board’s High School Policy 2.103;3. Three (3) credits of science as described in the State Board’s High School Policy 2.103; and 4. Two (2) credits of social studies as described in the State Board’s High School Policy 2.103.

– A student in the 12th grade in the 2019-20 school year shall not have End-of-Course exams scheduled to occur in the spring semester of the 2019-20 school year count as a percentage of a student’s final grade in a course with an associated End-of-Course exam.

– A student scheduled to graduate in the 2019-20 school year is not required to take and pass the civics test required by T.C.A. § 49-6-408 to meet the social studies course credit requirements to earn a regular high school diploma.

– Students receiving the occupational diploma in the 2019-20 or 2020-21 school year may receive the occupational diploma if they can demonstrate work experience of at least one (1) year.

– Students in the 12th grade during the 2019-20 school year who were enrolled in a Tennessee public school during their 11th-grade year and who did not take the ACT or SAT shall not be required to take the ACT or SAT for graduation purposes.

– Students in the 11th grade during the 2019-20 school year shall not be required to take the ACT or SAT to assess postsecondary readiness during the 2019-20 school year.

– Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) tests, which include, but are not limited to, TNReady assessments, English learner assessments, alternate TCAP assessments, and end-of-course examinations, shall not be required in the spring of the 2019-20 school year.

– Students taking courses for high school credit who were not scheduled to graduate in the 2019-20 school year shall receive no grade lower than the grade they earned in the course as of March 20, 2020.

– Student performance and student growth data from the TCAP tests, which include, but are not limited to, TNReady assessments, English learner assessments, alternate TCAP assessments, and end-of-course examinations, administered in the 2019-20 school year shall not be used to assign a letter grade to a school unless the use results in a higher letter grade for the school.

– Additionally, student performance and student growth data from TCAP tests administered in the 2019-20 school year shall not be used to identify a school as a priority school or to assign a school to the achievement school district.

– The Department of Education will not recommend and the State Board will not approve school or LEA performance designations based on performance goals and measures in the 2019-20 school year.