Juniors at California High School may take either the ACT or a work-readiness test without cost to them this school year.
The California school board Oct. 18 approved the measure which will cost the district about $5,000.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education had funded the ACT test for every junior in every school district for the last two school years. But state budget cuts forced DESE to drop the funding.
Most of the other schools in the Tri-County Conference have decided to cover the costs to continue the process as a way to assess students' college readiness.
At California, juniors may choose whether to take the ACT or the ACT's WorkKeys assessment. Either test costs about $40 per student.
Board member Philip Burger noted the district's annual assessments by the state will still include ACT results. Superintendent Dwight Sanders added providing the tests at no-cost to students also benefits students' futures.
Board President Craig Ash thanked school counselors and administrators for their extra efforts during the last few weeks as students and staff have faced several losses in the greater community.
In other business, the board:
Approved early graduation for eight seniors.
Discussed the future bond issue, including a preliminary meeting with an architect for ideas regarding a new elementary primary building, a FEMA safe shelter and partial demolition of the existing elementary building.
Acknowledged community conversation about renaming the football field and expects a formal presentation at the November meeting.
Learned MAP and EOC scores mostly exceed state averages and struggling areas improved over last year's scores.
Set the next board meeting for 6 p.m. Nov. 15.