State exams could once again be canceled in the Hudson Valley due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic has created an unprecedented year for students, teachers and parents. While there's no definitive answer yet, many school leaders in the Hudson Valley want standardized state tests that are given in the spring to be canceled for a second year in a row.
This includes the Regents exams, as well as ELA and math assessments for kids in grades 3-8.
In a November meeting, the Board of Regents already agreed to cancel exams for this month.
It's a decision Hudson Valley students say they are grateful for and are hoping will happen again in the second half of the school year.
"We've had such a hard year…with all this frustration…do we really need to do these Regents exams?" asks Lesley Lachman, a student in the Rye City School District.
Lachman is a News 12 education ambassador, along with White Plains superintendent Dr. Joseph Ricca.
He's also hoping the spring assessments are called off.
"When we are facing the challenges associated with the pandemic — hybrid learning, remote learning, contact tracing, families and children dealing with sickness and financial uncertainty — it is not the time to level high stakes standardized assessments in children and families during this academic year," he says.
It's not clear when a decision will come down, but last week the interim education commissioner said the state Education Department is hoping to deliver one "as soon as possible."