4940324 Education, Office of the State Superintendent of - Notice of Final Rulemaking - 18-month pilot program with GED Testing Service to use District of Columbia as national GED jurisdiction

OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION

 

NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING

 

The State Superintendent of Education, pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 3(a) and 3(b) (11), (13), (15), and (17) of The State Education Office Establishment Act of 2000, effective October 21, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-176; D.C. Official Code §§ 38-2602(a) and (b)(11), (b)(13)(b)(15), (b)(17), and 38-2602.01 (2012 Repl.)), hereby gives notice of the adoption of a final rule amending Chapter 23 (Curriculum and Testing) of Subtitle E (Original Title 5) of Title 5 (Education) of the District of Columbia Municipal regulations (DCMR).

 

The rules effectuate a pilot program of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (“OSSE”) with the GED Testing Service to select the District of Columbia as the national GED jurisdiction and to authorize OSSE to issue GED tests and credentials to a range of non-residents. During the eighteen (18) month pilot period, District residents will receive a discount on GED testing.

 

No changes were requested to be made to the proposed rules and no changes have been made to the text of the proposed rules, as published in the D.C. Register on April 25, 2014, at 61 DCR 4199. Final action to adopt these rules was taken on June 6, 2014. These final rules will be effective as of the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.

 

Section 2320 (General Educational Development (GED) Testing) of Chapter 23 (Curriculum and Testing), Title 5-E (Education, Original Title 5) is amended as follows:

Section 2320 of Chapter 23, Title 5-E is amended to delete each occurrence of the term “Superintendent” and to replace each deletion with the term “State Superintendent”.

Section 2320 of Chapter 23, Title 5-E is amended to delete each occurrence of the term “Superintendent of Schools” and to replace each deletion with the term “State Superintendent”.

Section 2320 of Chapter 23, Title 5-E is further amended to add a new subsection to read as follows:

2320.18           Notwithstanding the criteria established for nonresidents in Subsection 2320.10 of this chapter, the State Superintendent may waive the residency requirements of Subsection 2320.9 of this chapter and provide GED testing and credentialing to nonresidents who are otherwise qualified under this chapter for a period not to exceed of eighteen (18) months after the effective date of this subsection. During the effective period of this subsection, the testing fee established in Subsection 2320.17(d) of this chapter shall be reduced to $15.00 for District residents. OSSE reserves the right to waive the testing fee in cases of demonstrated financial hardship.