News Photo by Crystal Nelson Alpena High School juniors Alison Hosinski and Molly Ayotte study after school Wednesday at the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena.

ALPENA — Northeast Michigan’s superintendents are not surprised U.S. Department of Education officials want federally required standardized testing to continue this year, although some are concerned that implementing the testing will take away instruction time for kids.

The Education Department said Monday that it will not allow states to forgo federally required standardized testing in schools this year, but will give them flexibility to delay testing or hold it online during the pandemic.

Aiming for a middle ground in a polarized debate, the Biden administration said states must continue with annual testing, but can apply to be exempted from certain accountability measures tied to the results.

State Superintendent Michael Rice on Tuesday announced the state will initiate discussions with the U.S. Department of Education to allow Michigan to waive the federal requirement for state summative assessments this year.

In the meantime, superintendents with Alpena Public Schools, Alcona Community Schools, and Posen Consolidated Schools said they have continued to plan for testing to occur while testing requirements are figured out.

APS Superintendent David Rabbideau said district officials are planning as though the tests are going to occur. He said district officials believe it’s better to be prepared for the testing than to not prepare, and find out testing would be required just a couple weeks before it would occur.

“The challenge for everyone, I think, is how to test safely,” Rabbideau said. “You’re bringing in hundreds of students into rooms that have to be set up a specific way and how do you do that and social distance, mask, and do all of it safely. That’s what we’re trying to work through right now.”

Posen Consolidated Schools Superintendent Michelle Wesner said school officials are planning to move ahead with testing.

Wesner said students have been attending school in-person for most of the year and believes they will be excited to take their assessments. Wesner said she also expects to see academic growth in this years’ tests.

“Our kids have been pretty dedicated to learning and we’ve been in school… Unlike a lot of the other schools downstate, we have been in session the majority of the year,” she said.

Alcona Community Schools Superintendent Dan O’Connor in an email to The News said he anticipates the required tests will include the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress — or M-STEP — for students in third through seventh grades and the Scholastic Aptitude Test — or SAT — suite of assessments for students in eighth through 11th grade.

O’Connor said students who are not in high school are already required by the state to take tests two to three times a year in addition to the M-STEP.

“In a year where instructional time is precious, it’s frustrating to set aside another few days at each grade level to take additional tests,” he said in the email. “While the lost instructional time is frustrating, I understand the urgency for a benchmarking assessment gauging the impact of the pandemic and helping guide students and schools moving forward.”

Rod Fullerton, superintendent with Onaway Area Community School District, said teachers continue to teach state benchmarks and thinks the district will be in as good of shape as they can be if testing is required.

Rogers City Area Schools Superintendent Nick Hein and Carl Seiter, superintendent of Hillman Community Schools and Atlanta Community Schools, were not immediately available for comment.

State Superintendent Rice is initiating discussions with the Education Department because a majority of Michigan students have received inconsistent or no instruction in a classroom setting this school year, a press release from the state department of education said.

Rice said in the press release he believes when these students return to learning in-person, the focus should be on teaching and learning as well as their social and emotional wellbeing.

Rice in January had requested a waiver from the federal requirement to administer the statewide summative assessment to students this spring and from the school accountability measures resulting from those statewide assessments.

A response to that request is still pending.

In the meantime, Rice said state officials will continue to prepare for the administration of the state’s M-STEP assessments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.