Tennessee State Board of Education approves emergency rules to amend graduation requirements

(Courtesy Adobe Stock)

Now is the chance to help your local community succeed. Become a Patron by contributing to Community Impact Newspaper and gain daily insight into what's happening in your own backyard. Thank you for reading and supporting community journalism.

By Wendy Sturges | 3:11 PM Apr 9, 2020 CDT | Updated 3:11 PM Apr 9, 2020 CDT

In a conference call meeting April 9, the Tennessee State Board of Education unanimously approved emergency rules relating to issues caused by the closure of schools statewide due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the region.

The new rules amend requirements for students set to graduate during the 2019-20 and go in effect for 180 days. See some of the new rules below:

A student will receive a grade no lower than the grade they received in the course as of March 20, however schools may provide remote learning opportunities as a way to improve student grades.

In order to graduate, seniors must earn at least 20 credit hours including four credits in math, four credits of English, three credits of science and two credits of social studies.

Students will not have end-of-course exams counted as a percentage of the student’s final grade.

Students scheduled to graduate will not be required to pass the civics exams as required to meet social studies course requirements.

Students enrolled in a Tennessee public schools who did not take the SAT or ACT will not be required to do so for graduation purposes.

Read the full list of rules from the state board of education below.

By Wendy Sturges

A Houston native and graduate of St. Edward's University in Austin, Wendy Sturges has worked as a community journalist covering local government, health care, business and development since 2011. She has worked with Community Impact since 2015 as a reporter and editor and moved to Tennessee in 2019.