A major announcement was made in regards to Hudson Valley and New York students' education.

On Monday, March 15, the New York State Education Department announced that the majority of Regents exams will be canceled. The announcement comes after the U.S. Department of Education did not cancel all mandatory exams for 2021. Instead, the Federal government encouraged schools to administer a shortened or modified version of the exams, according to AM NY.

AM NY reports only four federally mandated exams will be administered in New York. These exams will be math, English, earth science, and living environment (biology). They will be administered in June 2021. Students in grades 3-8 will only need to sit for one federally required test in English and math. Only one session of the written test for sciences will be administered for those in grades 4 through 8.

In February 2021, we reported that the New York Teacher's Union issued a statement stating they did not want standardized tests in 2021. NYSUT President Andy Pallotta said, “In a year that has been anything but standard, mandating that students take standardized tests just doesn’t make sense.”

New York State Education Department Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr said in a press release, “While we were disappointed by the USDE decision not to grant blanket waivers for state assessments, we are confident that the regulatory amendments acted on today and other assessment-related actions by the Department provide for the flexibility necessary to meet federal requirements while ensuring the well-being of those in our school buildings.”

In addition to the majority of Regents exams being canceled, students in the Hudson Valley and New York will not need to take the Regents exams in order to receive their diplomas.

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