Press Release, Nov. 10, 2011 - January high school testing days

BURNT HILLS: At its meeting on November 8, the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Board of Education formally approved changes in the district calendar for high school testing dates in January 2012, changes that became necessary once the State Education Department rescinded its previous decision not to offer Regents exams in that month.

Now all high school students will benefit from two more days of instruction than in past years, plus the students who need to take state exams in January will be able to do so.

The primary change compared to the calendar that was mailed to all BH-BL households in August is that high school students will no longer have a half day on Wednesday, January 25. Instead January 25 will now be a Regents testing day -- meaning that only students taking Regents exams will attend school on January 25.

"An important change we want all high school parents to understand is that they should plan for their students to come to school every day, except that only students taking exams on January 25 will attend that day," says high school principal Maryellen Symer.

Additionally, January 24 will now become a half day for most high school students, unless they need to take a Regents exam or to make up a missed local exam that afternoon.

A letter with more details will be mailed to high school parents in December along with their child's interim grades.

A copy of the new district calendar page for January 2012 is available here (pdf format).

A change from previous years

The revised January calendar means that BH-BL will hold classes and give Regents exams at the same time on January 26 and 27. Students who need to take exams on those two days will be pulled from their regular classes to do so. Accommodations will be made to provide secure testing conditions, as the state requires.

"We can follow the the state's required schedule and give the January exams in a secure environment for the limited number of students who need them without stopping instruction for our other 1,050 students," Symer explains.

BH-BL was one of many school districts that protested last spring when the State Education Department announced it could no longer afford to administer Regents exams in January. That decision was rescinded in August 2011 when New York City Mayor Bloomberg and several private donors offered to provide funding for the January 2012 Regents, in fear that graduation rates would decline without these exams.

January Regents exams offer NY students who are struggling an extra opportunity to pass an exam. BH-BL students who have failed an exam that they need for graduation will be re-taking it in January. The extra exams also help students who want to try to earn a higher grade on an exam they already took and hopefully earn an Advanced Regents diploma rather than just a Regents diploma. In addition, as it has always done, the high school will encourage students identified as needing extra support on these gatekeeper exams to take them in January.

Ninety-four percent of the BH-BL Class of 2011 earned a Regents diploma or better, one of the highest Regents graduation rates in the Capital Region. "If we don't have a chance to offer Regents exams in January, we're going to see our scores decline -- I guarantee it," says Symer.

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