BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Education has outlined how schools should handle course credit for students forced out of school due to COVID-19.

Just a day after the governor announced campuses would remain closed through the rest of the school year, the Department of Education released guidance, informing schools how they should handle credit and grade promotion going into the summer.

Promotion for students grades K-11 is being left to local school districts based on their performance throughout the school year. If a school determines that a student has not met requirements for advancing, the school may offer other options to help meet those requirements via distance learning options, online coursework, written work packets, project-based learning portfolios, or work-based learning. 

Standardized testing has also been waived as a requirement for students in grades K-11.

Individual school districts will determine if online classes or remote course work will continue through the summer to make up for the lost time in the classroom, as well as if the 2020-2021 school year will start earlier than scheduled. 

LDE says they will continue to work with schools on further guidance and ensure that districts will receive the resources necessary for students to complete their distance learning curriculum.

You can read the full guidance here: 

https://www.louisianabelieves.com/docs/default-source/covid-19-resources/school-system-promotion-guidance-2019-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=a2209b1f_2

You can read the full guidance for seniors in the class of 2020 here: 

https://www.louisianabelieves.com/docs/default-source/covid-19-resources/senior-course-credit-and-graduation-guidance.pdf?sfvrsn=47059b1f_6