The School Board of Lee County approved the uniform statewide assessment calendar, which has not been affected by proposed legislation that would eliminate FSA testing.

The calendar breaks down the estimates of total testing time by grade level and by statewide and district assessments, which range from .3 percent of instructional time for senior students to 2.8 percent of instructional time for seventh grade students.

The writing and third grade ELA may be administered on, or after April 4, while all other assessments can be administered on or after May 3. Furthermore, the district is required to choose specific dates for the Spring Paper-Based tests, which includes grades 4-10 writing, grades 3-6 ELA and math and science grades five and eight.

There are also statewide assessments for select students, such as high school retakes for ELA and Algebra 1 graduation requirements, PSAT for sophomore students and SAT or ACT for junior students.

This year’s calendar will not be affected by the announcement Gov. Ron DeSantis made on Sept. 14 in regards to a legislative proposal that would eliminate common core based, end of year, high stakes FSA testing. The proposal would create a new Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (F.A.S.T.), which would monitor student progress, and foster individual growth.

“We would still follow our current model,” Accountability, Research & Assessment Director Dr. Matt Kaye said. “It’s still status quo going forward.”

He said they are still waiting on details of what the progress monitoring system will be.

“As we learn more, we will be working more as a division to better align our monitoring to meet the interest of our students. At this time we don’t have enough information to know, or forecast, how it will impact our progress monitoring internally,” Kaye said.

He said pending legislative approval, it could evolve. Right now the plan is to have three progress monitoring windows throughout the year.

“We wouldn’t know the extent or duration. As we learn more we will be modifying our own internal schedule as well,” Kaye said.

Board member Gwyn Gittens shared her concern about a gap that might happen between FSA and switching to a new progress system, as they always lose students in a change.

“I am concerned about anytime we switch mechanisms, it is rough on the kids,” she said.

Chief Academic Officer Dr. Jeff Spiro said what the state is recommending is something the district is already doing, as they do early detection with progress monitoring.