On June 10, 2016, Commissioner of Education Mike Morath waived the testing requirements for fifth and eighth grade students. As a result of ongoing reporting issues with the state's testing vendor, Morath announced that the state will be removing student consequences attached to State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) for fifth- and eighth-grade students for the 2015-2016 school year. He also canceled the June 21- 22 fifth- and eighth-grade retest administration.
Even though state requirements have been waived, districts will use local discretion to determine on an individual basis whether accelerated instruction should be offered to support students. The Varnett School will continue to provide instruction to these students during the summer session to ensure the students have mastered all fifth grade objectives prior to being promoted to the sixth grade. The STAAR test results will not be considered when making promotion decisions.
Sincerely,
Dr. Margaret Stroud, Superintendent