The Gloucester School Board approved the reinstatement of final exams for Gloucester High School students during its meeting Tuesday at the T.C. Walker Education Center.

The course-end exams were eliminated when the school division, as a cost-saving measure, went to a 160-day school year. GHS seniors had also complained of being overwhelmed by SOL tests, senior projects deadlines, college application deadlines, and final exams in the spring.

The school division now has a 170-day school year. During the last school year, the school board had discussed the possibility of bringing back final exams and asked GHS principal Nate Collins and his staff to consider the move.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Collins proposed that all GHS courses would have a final exam or alternative cumulative assessment that would count 10 percent toward the final course grade.

For students enrolled in SOL-tested courses, the proposal included a final exam exemption for those who pass the corresponding SOL ...