In a special meeting this afternoon, the state Board of Education granted unanimous approval to a state request for flexibility from some aspects of federal education laws. Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra presented the request, a one-year waiver from elements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA, better known as the No Child Left Behind, writes Clark Corbin of Idaho Education News.

Corbin reports that the board had already given the green light to many waiver aspects this spring, but the feds sent it back to Idaho for technical corrections and formatting; you can read his full report here. Under the waiver, the state won’t award “star” ratings to schools this year, as Ybarra said it doesn’t yet have sufficient data from new student tests; the Schoolnet statewide instructional management system will be discontinued; and some sanctions previously imposed on schools that don’t meet “adequate yearly progress” goals would be removed.