JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA)– The Mississippi State Board of Education voted today to suspend three statewide policies regarding assessment and accountability to manage the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the 2020-21 school year.

• Current 3rd graders will take the 3rd Grade Reading/Language Arts assessment. Students are not required to meet a passing score on the assessment to be promoted to 4th grade for the 2021-22 school year. Students still must meet all other district requirements for promotion.
• All eligible students who take required end-of-course high school assessments including Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History in the 2020-21 school year are not required to meet a passing score to meet high school graduation requirements. Students must meet all other state and district requirements to graduate.
• Schools and districts will not be assigned A-F letter grades for their performance in the 2020-21 school year because the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) will not have sufficient data to calculate grades based on state and federal requirements. Schools and districts will retain their most recent letter grades earned in the 2018-19 school year.

Aberdeen Superintendent, Jeff Clay, says they continue to push students to the full potential. Superintendent Clay says a majority of students pass the end of the year tests, but there have been a few fail. "Put a plan in place and determine the learning loss, and do the best to get them caught back up."

Assistant Superintendent for Tupelo Public School District, Brock English, says they have a curriculum put in place so students do the best they can and students are on the same learning level as their peers. He says he is glad the state board of education went to the defense for students who are having a difficult time during the pandemic.

Schools and districts will also not be assigned the A-F rating grade for this school year. They will retain the rating from 2018-2019.

Right now these changes only affect the 2020-2021 school year.