Current requirement for Regents Exams could change

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The school year is almost out, and many students are cramming for finals, including state regents exams.

The current requirements for the state regents exam could become a thing of the past.

“I do think we’re moving in the right direction. I think it’s going to be an amazing opportunity for our kids,” said Nicole Capsello, President of Syracuse Teachers Association.

Taking some pressure off high school students through the State Education Department’s new proposal that would make the regents exams optional, eliminating the requirement for students to pass the exams to graduate.

Currently, high school students are required to pass four state board regents exams, a pathway course, and meet 22 credits to earn a high school diploma.

“Making it such a high-stakes test that you have to pass it in order to graduate even if you already passed the course, that’s what we’re looking to do away with because its unfair to a lot of our kids,” said Capsello.

But this doesn’t mean testing would end. Students would still have to pass exams within their district.

For Rome dad, Stephen Hampe, he says the regents were more of a nuisance for his three kids.

“The fact that their courses had to be feed to not learning the material or engaging in exploration of the material but prepping for those tests really did suck a lot of the enjoyment out of the experience for them,” said Hampe.

But that’s not all.

“It really was just an unnecessary level of stress at the end of school years that they had to prep for this that a year of schooling really didn’t really prepare them for,” said Hampe.

The department still needs to present its plan to the Board of Regents before any changes are made. The plan will be presented in November.

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