Following the eight block schedule changes, the district also adjusted the agenda for midterm and final exams. Having discussed it for months, administration decided the new schedule would follow the general school day and split exams up over a four day period.

“Exams won’t be as taxing on the students,” Assistant Principal Erin Frye said. “Taking two 45 minute tests can be easier on students than taking it all at once.”

Minimum standards for exemptions, handed out on Jan. 10, now define what expectations students must meet in order to use exemption forms. The district decided to clarify its policy and ensure all campuses follow the same guidelines by streamlining the new policy, according to Frye.

“I think it will be interesting to see,” Frye said. “I think that the clarification on minimum standards is helpful to clarify across the board and among the schools.”

New additions to the standards include changes to absences and grades. For example, when dealing with TAKS exemptions in the spring semester, students must have an 80 or above in order to exempt the class. In the past, the student only had to pass the course. Also, students who absence fail a class cannot get any exemptions.

“The idea of exemptions is that it’s a privilege to those who have achieved satisfactory grades and attendance,” Frye said. “Students who have absence failed a class have not met those standards.”

[read our opinion on the exam changes]

In the past, students were able to go off campus during classes they exempted. With the new exam policy, students must report to the P.E. gym during the class they exempt.

“It was a safety decision,” Frye said. “We don’t want to put students into a rushed situation.”

Students will take exams in their fifth through ninth block classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and their first through fourth block classes on Thursday and Friday. Following fifth period on Friday, students will be released early.

“From a practical sense, early release allows teachers time to clean up and prepare for the next semester,” Frye said. “Teachers definitely have to pay more attention to the tests and that’s going to help preserve confidentiality.”