By Katie Lannan, State House News Service | April 21, 2021 It’s official. This year’s high school junior class doesn’t need to take or pass MCAS tests to graduate, under a change approved this week by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. As WHAV reported at the beginning of the month, Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley recommended the temporary change. It is one of a series of pandemic-influenced shifts the state has made within its standardized testing program since COVID-19 first shuttered school buildings last spring. Students are typically required to pass 10th grade English and math MCAS exams in order demonstrate competency in the two subjects and graduate. Last year’s 10th graders, the class of 2022, didn’t take those tests last spring because of a federal waiver and legislative approval to cancel the spring 2020 MCAS during the early days of remote learning.