School superintendent Mike Grego has put an end to Pinellas County schools having an end of course exam, or EOC, that is not required by the state. According to Jeffrey Solochek, Tampa Bay Times staff writer, “Pinellas eliminated about 450 local tests” as of last week. However, students are still required to take end of the year exams that are distributed by their teachers. Students will still have to take the required state EOCs.

“The difference in this case is the county makes the same end of course exam for everyone,” said Mr. Mattheus, computer programming teacher, “so everyone covers the same thing over the year, so we can all pass the same exam.”

Bryce Wyatt, 10th grade, said it’s good news. “I think it’s a great idea because students and teachers will have more freedom to do their own planning and studying,” he said. “That way students are being tested on things they have actually covered.”

Not having this county given EOC allows teachers to make their own exams and be able to prepare their students as best as they can and have control over what they are tested on. “You can test students on what you know you have covered in class,” said Mr. Mattheus, “for instance, if something happens at Osceola, you can cover that on the exam while the county exam wouldn’t have something like that.”
“I really think it is better to have EOCs given by the teacher rather than the county,” said Andrew Inskeep, 11th grade. “I feel like I would be better prepared for it because I would know what exactly we covered, rather than what we’re expected to cover.”
“Everything seems really confusing for exams,” said Austin Waits, 12th grade. “I’m really happy I am a senior and I won’t have to keep dealing with it.”
Exam week will start May 27th, and go on until June 2nd, the last day of school.