Dr. Holly Boffy, BESE President
BESE President Holly Boffy continues to defend her efforts to allow students who fail the state’s standardized graduation exam to file an appeal. Boffy filed an emergency rule for the process to be implemented sooner but after political pushback, it will go into effect on December 20th.
“The purpose of that emergency rule was to give the department time for our December graduates. The department had questions about it and that was starting to become a distraction,” said Boffy.
Boffy says it was never her intent for the issue to become a political distraction, but the December 20th date still allows for December graduates.
Louisiana is one of eight states that require passage of the graduation exam but is the only state without an appeal. In just over two weeks, Boffy if a student is unable to pass a portion of LEAP, they can appeal to local educators to determine if they should be allowed to graduate….
“Instead of bureaucrats in Baton Rouge making a decision, that is a decision for 100% of kids, this empowers the local educators to really look deeply at students,” said Boffy.
Boffy says it involves several steps and the students’ grades are also considered along with any hurdles they might be facing. She gave examples of students who are undergoing chemotherapy, or who have severe test anxiety.
She says an appeal is not the same as a waiver, which was used during the pandemic when they were unable to administer LEAP tests.
After serving 12 years on BESE, Boffy feels her initiative to allow for the appeals process in Louisiana will be among her proudest achievements. She’s optimistic a new board won’t reverse the appeals option, but if they do…
“I would hope that the legislature would step up on behalf of our children and make sure that this becomes a state law,” said Boffy.
Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley and Governor-elect Jeff Landry have been outspoken opponents of the appeal process.
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