Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 210 - State Department of Education › Chapter 10 - School Administration and Instructional Services › Subchapter 13 - Student Assessment and School Accountability › Section 210:10-13-23 - Emergency exemptions from assessments required by the Oklahoma School Testing Program

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
(a)
Purpose.
Any public school district or public charter school may
				request an exemption from the administration of one or more statewide
				criterion-referenced tests and/or end-of-instruction exams administered
				pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma School Testing Program Act at 70
				O.S. § 1210.508 et seq., for any of its enrolled students who are unable
				to participate in the assessment or a make-up assessment at any time during the
				testing window due to a documented significant medical emergency. The
				procedures set forth in (d) of this Section shall govern submission,
				processing, and evaluation of all requests for emergency exemptions submitted
				to the State Department of Education.
(b)
Application.
The provisions
				of this Section are not applicable to assessment determinations made by local
				school district staff, school administrators, or teachers pursuant to federal
				guidelines and state administrative rules. The requirements of this Section
				shall not interfere with the processes and procedures utilized by local school
				districts and charter schools to refrain from testing up to five percent (5%)
				of enrolled students. Such decisions shall continue to be made in accordance
				with local district policies and without review or approval of the State
				Department of Education.
(c)
Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this
				Section, shall have the following meanings:
(1)
"Immediate family member"
shall mean a parent, legal guardian, sibling, or child of the student for whom
				the exemption is requested.
(2)
"Significant medical emergency"
shall mean the debilitating onset
				of a severe or life-threatening physical or mental illness, infection, injury,
				disease and/or emotional trauma that meets all of the following criteria:
(A) The condition arises from an accident,
				disaster, crisis, or other exigent circumstances beyond the control of the
				student, the parents/legal guardians of the student, and the student's school
				or school district;
(B) The
				condition affects the student so severely as to incapacitate the student from
				participation in the assessment and corresponding make-up assessment at any
				time during the testing window;
(C) The condition affects the student so
				severely as to prevent the enrolled student from receiving instruction at
				school, at home, or through internet or online instruction;
(D) The student's incapacity to participate
				cannot be remedied with state-approved accommodations provided to the student
				by the school district as necessary to ensure equitable access to the
				assessment during the testing window; and
(E) The school or school district has been
				provided with written documentation of the condition that is verified in
				writing by a physician licensed to practice in the State of Oklahoma, or
				licensed in another jurisdiction and certified by an American Board of Medical
				Specialties (ABMS) Member Board or an American Board of Physician Specialties
				(ABPS) Member Board. A copy of the documentation verifying the student's
				condition shall be filed in the student's educational record.
(F) The term "significant medical emergency"
				shall not include:
(i) Short term, or minor
				illnesses or injuries;
(ii)
				Pregnancy (unless complications of a pregnancy otherwise meet the definition of
				a "significant medical emergency" herein);
(iii) Placement of the student in a juvenile
				detention or correctional facility; or
(iv) Refusal of a student or parent to
				participate in the assessment.
(v)
				The occurrence of one of the conditions listed in (F) shall not disqualify a
				student who is eligible for an emergency medical exemption on a different
				basis.
(G) Examples of
				situations that could be considered a "significant medical emergency" may
				include, but shall not be limited to conditions in which:
(i) The student is in the final stages of a
				terminal disease or degenerative illness, or the student has been placed in
				hospice care;
(ii) The student has
				been admitted to a hospital, infirmary, or other health care or treatment
				facility for the duration of the testing window that prohibits the student's
				secure access to the examination;
(iii) The student is comatose for the
				duration of the testing window;
(iv) The student has a serious chronic
				medical condition that will be worsened or intensified by external
				circumstances, and the student's physician determines that participation in the
				assessment could result in a significant medical emergency;
(v) The student has sustained serious mental
				or physical injury as a result of an accident, unintentional injury, or other
				catastrophic event such as:
(I) A
				transportation accident;
(II) A
				natural disaster or other event resulting in a declared state of emergency;
(III) An act of violence,
				including but not limited to: acts of physical assault, rape, kidnapping,
				homicide, torture, or terrorism;
(IV) Drowning;
(V) Poisoning, fall, or traumatic brain
				injury;
(VI) Fire or explosion in
				the student's home when the student was present;
(VII) Death or life-threatening injuries to,
				or significant medical emergency of, an immediate family member resulting from
				one of the examples in subparagraph (G).