BOSTON — The head of the state’s K-12 education board expects the state will be sued for failing to assure there’s adequate and equitable learning taking place in schools, after voters overwhelmingly supported a new law this November that got rid of the requirement that students have to pass the MCAS exam to graduate.

Meanwhile, the state’s teachers unions that pushed the initiative say they’re open to implementing a new statewide standard.

“This is the place that the lawsuits come,” Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Chair Katherine Craven said at the first board meeting early last week since the election when voters passed Question 2 to decouple the MCAS from a student’s ability to earn a diploma.

Craven said she worried about school districts suing the state in the absence of a uniform requirement for all students to graduate.

Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, who opposed Question 2, said the administration would respect the will of the voters while also convening stakeholders to discuss what the future of a new uniform standard would look like.

“It is gratifying to hear state Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler express acceptance of the results of the election, and we urge the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to focus on implementing without delay the new high-school graduation processes outlined in Question 2,” said a release from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which was the main financial backer of the initiative, responding to the board’s meeting on Nov. 18.

The union’s statement says they’re willing to work on new statewide standards to replace the MCAS requirement.

“It is time to look at new, innovative ways to ensure that all students are properly educated to become engaged, informed citizens ready to pursue the goals of their choosing after high school. ... Educators are ready to be part of the robust conversations around making sure that every student is having equitable access to the quality of education prescribed by our state’s standards,” they say.

During the Nov. 18 meeting, board member Dalida Rocha, who was in the first class of high schoolers who had to pass the exam to graduate and was a recent immigrant to the U.S. at the time, said the “one-size-fits-all” test was “the definition of unfair.”

Other board members expressed their disappointment about Question 2’s passage while also trying to answer the question about what comes next.

“I was strongly in opposition to Question 2 and regret that this is the outcome that we are faced with,” said member Michael Moriarty. “The ball is very much on our court, because, as was pointed out in the public comment, we actually have a constitutional obligation to ensure that all students are not passed through or pushed out, but that they receive the quality education they need to thrive in the next stage of their life after high school education.”

Craven said the board has a responsibility to “assure that there is adequate learning and equity” and “not just social promotion.”

“And I don’t know what we do about that, and I don’t even know where we begin, so. And what our role is, versus the Legislature’s. But that’s important for us to know,” she said.

Education insiders after the Nov. 5 election said conversations about implementing new education standards in the wake of Question 2’s passage are already happening, and those who had campaigned against the initiative are pushing for a solution.

Top Democratic lawmakers have left the door open to making changes to Question 2, though changing a ballot law — especially one with a 59-41 margin — could generate backlash. Gov. Maura Healey has made several references to convening stakeholders for a conversation about creating a new standard to replace the MCAS requirement, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has promised future guidance for school districts.

DESE Acting Commissioner Russell Johnston said the department is developing new guidance as it relates to the Class of 2025. Most of that class likely already passed the MCAS, which is first given in 10th grade, though about 1% of every class does not pass the test at all. The guidance will outline how the graduation status of students who haven’t passed the MCAS may change this upcoming spring.