January Regents are not gonna happen

New York will cancel the planned January administration of the high school Regents exams amid the ongoing pandemic, state Education Department officials said Thursday.

The standardized exams — graduation requirements for students in New York State — are typically offered in January, June and August.

But state education officials said Thursday they couldn’t safely or fairly offer the test this January with the pandemic still active and many students across the state learning from home.

“We determined the January Regents exams could not be safely, equitably and fairly administered across the state given where the pandemic currently stands,” said Interim Education Commissioner Betty Rosa.

“We will continue to monitor applicable data and make a decision on other state assessment programs as the school year progresses, being mindful of the evolving situation.”

Roughly 300,000 students across the state typically take Regents exams in January, compared with 1.6 million in June.

Students are normally required to pass five Regents exams to graduate, unless they complete one of the state’s alternative paths to graduation.

Officials from the Education Department proposed that students who were relying on the January exams for graduation should instead be able to satisfy the requirement by earning credit in the course that corresponds to the exam.

The state’s Board of Regents will make a decision on that proposal during its December meeting.

Officials haven’t yet decided on the fate of the June and August exams, which were both canceled last school year amid the pandemic.

Advocates who have long pushed the state to ease the Regents-related graduation requirements — and who say the testing rules are especially problematic during the pandemic — applauded the decision to nix the January test and urged officials to cancel the June and August exams as well.