Dear Principals and Administrators,
As previously reported, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) is canceling all but four of the Regents Examinations scheduled to be administered in June 2021. Furthermore, NYSED has decoupled state assessments from the associated diploma requirements. Students who earned a course credit through coursework are exempt from the associated examination-related diploma requirements, meaning they do not have to take or pass the 4 Regents Examinations being offered.
Agudath Israel of America and the Jewish Education Project have received many inquiries regarding the ramification of these changes to schools. As a result, we reached out to NYSED for clarification. We also requested an extension to the Regents ordering deadline. In response to our concerns, SED is extending the ordering deadline to Friday, April 23, 2021. Please note: it will not be possible to further extend this deadline.
Below, we summarize some of the more relevant points schools have reached out to us about:
• Schools do not have to administer the exams.
• It is solely up to the school as to whether they want to administer the exams or not. A school should discuss this with their own school board.
• Students who are eligible to be admitted to the Regents Exam should be given the opportunity to take the exam should they or their parents wish, provided that the assessments can be administered in person in the school building in accordance with local health department guidelines.
• If the school is administering the exams, a student or their parent can opt out of taking the exam.
• If a school is not sure whether they will be administering the exams or not, they can order the exams now and, if they so choose, not administer them in June. We were told that there will not be an ordering penalty for unused exams.
• A student that does take an exam and fails may still qualify for an exemption to the diploma requirement associated with the examination, as long as they meet one of the eligibility requirements. However, the grade will be added to the students record.
• We do not yet know how this will affect Mandated Services Aid claims and whether there will be a save-harmless provision for this year’s exams as there was last year. We will be advocating for the provision for this year as well.
Exemption Record and Level 0 Account
A student is deemed exempt from a June 2021 Regents exam if the principal (in consultation with the student’s teachers) has deemed that, by the end of the semester, the student has proven through his/her coursework that he/she has earned the credit for the course. That exemption is entered into the school’s Level 0 (SIRS) account as an Assessment Record. Therefore, schools must make sure that any student who would take a June 2021 Regents has a valid Demographic and Enrollment Record in Level 0.
In addition to the exemptions, any student who will earn a NYS diploma in June must also have a valid Demographic and Enrollment Record in Level 0. Both the exemptions and graduation data are processed from Level 0 into the school’s Level 2 reports and it is the school’s responsibility to make sure both Level 0 and Level 2 are accurate. The Level 2 reports are what Mandated Services reviews for reimbursement so inaccurate reports will lead to problems with reimbursement.
For more information, please carefully read the full NYSED memo here and the FAQ here.
As always, feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions.
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Rabbi Yehoshua Pinkus
Director of Yeshiva Services
Ami Bazov, Esq.
Coordinator of Education Affairs
Yeshiva Services champions and guides yeshivos and day schools, advocates for resources at all levels of government, educates and guides yeshiva leadership, and defends yeshivos and their unique character under the guidance of Gedolei Yisroel, ensuring the continued growth of Klal Yisroel.