Prohibits requiring students to pass state-administered end-of-course (LEAP) tests in order to graduate from high school

House Bill 262 enacts Louisiana Revised Statute 17:24.4(F)(1)(k) to establish that students who successfully complete all Carnegie units required for high school graduation shall receive a high school diploma regardless of their performance on state-administered assessments. The bill removes the existing requirement under current Board of Elementary and Secondary Education policy that students pass certain end-of-course assessments, particularly LEAP tests, as a condition of high school graduation eligibility. This change decouples the diploma requirement from state test performance while maintaining Carnegie unit completion as the sole criterion for graduation.

This legislation directly affects high school students, educators, and school administrators across Louisiana. Students who may have previously been denied a diploma despite completing all required coursework due to failing state assessments will now be guaranteed a diploma upon successful completion of their Carnegie units. School districts and principals will no longer enforce BESE's existing administrative rule requiring end-of-course test passage, simplifying the graduation pathway and potentially reducing the number of students denied diplomas. The Department of Education and BESE will need to update corresponding administrative rules and graduation policies to align with this statutory mandate.

The bill operates within Louisiana's existing educational assessment framework established by the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program, which remains in effect under R.S. 17:24.4 for accountability and measurement purposes. While LEAP testing will continue to be administered statewide in grades three through eleven as required by current law, this statute removes the high-stakes consequence of test failure on diploma eligibility. The Carnegie unit system, already embedded in Louisiana graduation requirements, becomes the exclusive standard for determining graduation eligibility under this bill. This change reflects a legislative determination that course completion should be sufficient for diploma receipt, independent of standardized assessment outcomes.