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Virtual learning this past year has obviously not been without its challenges to education. One of those is how it has affected test scores on the high school level. Last week we reported that Franklin High School (FHS) had experienced enough of a drop in students’ performance on mid-year Standards of Learning tests to take notice.

In an example given, 59% of students who took English 11 during the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year had passed their end-of-course reading SOL, and only 32% had passed their writing SOL — an improvement over the 50% who passed reading as of March 2020, but a steep drop from the 84% who passed reading and the 77% who passed writing as of June 2019.

FHS Principal Travis Felts has rightly compared the push for their achieving high marks to a race, and it’s one that the students could ultimately win. And rather than berate anyone about low marks, there is instead encouragement. Students who failed their SOL have an opportunity to retake the test in April.

We strongly urge them to put all their energies into studying as a way to better ensure success this spring. That includes taking advantage of the tutoring being made available.