Virginia Board of Education Meeting Summary
April 2, 2020
Board of Education Meeting Summary
04.02.2020
All meeting materials from the session are available at: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/2020/04-apr/agenda-040220.shtml
The Board of Education met virtually to discuss and adopt emergency guidelines to govern the process by which school divisions are to use to award both standard and verified credits to students affected by the COVID19 crisis as well as to outline the Department’s overall response to school closures and continuity of educational services going forward.
The guidance for both differentiates the process for students who were scheduled to graduate with the 2019-2020 cohort and for students graduating after the 2019-2020 cohort and are enrolled in a high school credit-bearing course in Spring 2020.
The Board adopted the guidance but discussed a few clarifying amendments that will be made to the document as currently posted prior to its final issuance.
The first related to providing some clarification to phrasing laying out the various ways by which a student graduating after the 2019-2020 cohort may demonstrate completion through a locally determined measure. Existing language says that options available are “not limited to” the examples provided in the guidance (work sample portfolio, completing a locally developed or standard of learning assessment, or demonstrated achievement via a national or international assessment). However, the Board wanted there to be a clarification that any other alternatives should be comparable to the listed options.
The second was a desire by the Board to make it more explicit that student grades could be used as part of the standard credit verification process.
Final Review of Emergency Guidelines for Locally Awarded Verified Credits Due to COVID-19
The Board adopted this guidance after clarifying that using the option to award verified credits to students in particular courses did not preclude a student by student evaluation if necessary for individual student situations.
COVID-19 Briefing
The Board received a briefing on all the materials which have been distributed to school divisions regarding the Department of Education’s response to school closures and other issues related to the COVID19 crisis.
As part of its conversation, the Board specifically requested additional information regarding how the current crisis is impacting private day schools, how the Governor’s closure order affects such programs, as well as the availability of local funding streams for these programs.
The materials have all been distributed before and are available via the links below.
- USED Provides Initial Approval to Cancel 2019-2020 Reading, Math and Science Tests (Word) – News Release, March 30, 2020
- Guidance from the Department of Special Education and Student Services
- Guidance on Graduation Requirements, Awarding Credits, and Continuity of Learning
- Guidance on Licensure of Instructional Personnel (Word) – Superintendent's Memo 083-20
- Joint Guidance for Emergency Child Care during Statewide School Closure (Word)
- Joint Guidance for Student Placements Reimbursed by the Children's Services Act (Word)
- COVID-19 Parent Guide for School-Age Children
- #GoOpenVA: COVID-19 Extended Closing Resources – Resources provided by Virginia school divisions to support educational activities when schools are closed.
- Frequently Asked Questions – Updated regularly by VDOE
