By Ryan Quinn, Charleston Gazette-Mail
March 19, 2020
West Virginia’s state schools superintendent said the state is canceling the annual public school statewide standardized testing this spring due to the governor closing down all schools in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Superintendent Clayton Burch said testing is off even though the U.S. Education Department hasn’t yet granted or rejected his request that West Virginia be exempted from federal testing and accountability requirements.
In his Tuesday letter to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Burch simultaneously announced the cancellation and requested a waiver from the rules surrounding it.
“I thank you in advance for your approval of our waiver request based on our decision to suspend 2019-2020 testing,” the letter read.
Burch briefly mentioned during a Friday news conference that his staff had already spoken with a U.S. Education Department official.