NEWARK – Worcester County Public Schools will waive final exams for first semester courses as a result of distance learning.
On Tuesday, the Worcester County Board of Education voted unanimously to waive semester one final exams. The waiver was recommended by school system leadership.
“We did this last spring,” said Annette Wallace, the school system’s chief academic and operating officer for grades 9-12.
Last spring, the school system waived final exam requirements as a result of the state-mandated school closure associated with COVID-19. Though students were able to attend schools some this fall, distance learning was in place for much of November and December. As a result, Wallace said Superintendent Lou Taylor was recommending a waiver of the semester one final exam requirements.
“We are coming before you again today seeking your approval of this from a couple different standpoints,” she said. “Number one, we firmly believe the best place for our students to learn is in person with their teachers. Unfortunately, that has been very unstable during semester one.”
She added that final exams at the high school level made up 20% of a student’s grade.
“So we just felt like from an equity standpoint that it was not in students’ best interest to have this final exam,” she said.
The school board voted unanimously to approve the waiver.
