State lawmakers announced a deal Thursday in a long-running debate over high-school graduation requirements.
The Washington Legislature has debated whether to place a permanent moratorium on those requirements, as House Democrats would prefer, or provide a temporary exemption as Senate Republicans have proposed.
Under the deal announced Thursday, high-school students would need to complete the language-arts and math exams as sophomores starting in 2019, according to a news release.
High-school students currently take those tests in the 11th grade.
The deal also would delay the requirement that students pass a biology exam until 2021.
Earlier this month, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal had pitched a compromise in a yearslong debate over graduation requirements.
He wanted students who don’t pass one of the exams to have alternative options, including completing a college-level course or earning a minimum score on college-entrance exams.
The new deal includes some of those alternative options, including passage of locally administered tests that Reykdal’s office must approve, according to the release.
