The compromise would exempt students — temporarily — from passing biology exams to earn a diploma. It also would provide alternative options for high-school students who fail any of the three required tests.
State lawmakers have agreed to offer some relief to high-school seniors who may not have received their diploma after failing state-mandated tests.
After a unanimous vote in the House on Tuesday, state senators also voted unanimously early Saturday to send compromise legislation that would overhaul high-school testing requirements to Gov. Jay Inslee.
For years, lawmakers have debated which exams, if any, students should have to pass to earn a diploma. House Democrats this year preferred placing a permanent moratorium on those requirements, while Senate Republicans wanted to provide a temporary exemption — and only for a new biology test.
The compromise bill, if the governor signs it into law, would make high-school students complete language-arts and math exams as sophomores, starting in 2019. They now take those tests in 11th grade.
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The legislation also would delay the requirement, until 2021, that students pass a biology exam. And it provides a fast-track appeals process for students in the graduating classes of 2014 through 2018 who did not pass either the language-arts or math exams.
Although most high schools have already held their graduation ceremonies this year, the new policy would apply retroactively to students in the class of 2017.
Last month, state schools chief Chris Reykdal pitched a compromise that would have offered alternative options, such as completing a college-level course, for students who don’t pass one of the required exams.
The new deal includes some of those options, including successfully passing a locally administered test that Reykdal’s office must approve.