Students at authorized full-time virtual schools could take their state exams from home, and the English II end-of-course test would end after this school year, under a rule change the Texas Education Agency has proposed.
The agency published the proposal in the Texas Register on Oct. 16. Public comments are being taken through Nov. 16, and a request for a public hearing must reach the education commissioner within 14 days of the Oct. 16 publication, according to the notice.
Testing from home for virtual schools
The amendment to the state's assessment rules would let three kinds of campuses give state-required tests remotely, following procedures TEA sets in its test administration materials:
- full-time virtual campuses under the new virtual and hybrid education law, Chapter 30B of the Education Code;
- full-time virtual programs under that same chapter;
- full-time virtual campuses of districts or charter schools that operate under the older Texas Virtual School Network law during 2026-27.
Senate Bill 569, passed in 2025, repealed the old virtual school network chapter and created Chapter 30B with a transition period, TEA's notice says.
The agency argues remote testing would remove geographic and logistical hurdles that can be hardest on rural, medically fragile and economically disadvantaged students and their families, and would match how virtual students already receive instruction. TEA estimates the remote option will cost the agency $105,200 a year from fiscal 2027 through 2031, paid from its existing testing budget. It projects no cost to local governments.
TEA's list of campuses authorized under Chapter 30B for 2026-27 has eight entries, including Frisco ISD's Frisco Flex and Katy ISD's Legacy Virtual High School. A separate list names 20 online schools operating under the virtual school network.
