Sample Response to Opt-Out Requests

The Kentucky Department of Education has provided information to school districts regarding a campaign against the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and standardized testing. Groups against the initiative are urging parents to sign an opt-out form and submit it to their child’s school. In Kentucky, schools and districts are not permitted to honor a parent’s request to opt-out of CCSS or statewide testing.

In the Monday, March 30 Superintendent's email, guidance stated that students may only be excused from statewide assessments upon completion and approval of the Medical Non-participation Form or Extraordinary Circumstances Non-participation Form. Both forms can be found at: http://education.ky.gov/AA/distsupp/Pages/Forms.aspx.

The Kentucky School Boards Association shared information about the opt-out campaign and Kentucky schools in an article in the Headline Service on March 31: http://www.ksba.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6GB33IB&dasi=3G32.

Proactive Response from Oldham County:

Oldham County Schools has received opt-out requests from parents and as a proactive response, the district shared a sample letter for schools to customize and send to parents.

In the letter shared with KYSRPA by Tracy Green, the school/district states, "We have received your correspondence regarding your desire to have your child “opt-out” of state-wide assessment. We appreciate your position on that matter and acknowledge your desire to have your child “opt-out” based on the concerns you specified in your correspondence to us. However, the Kentucky Department of Education has advised that the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and standardized state testing are not optional in Kentucky public schools."

The letter goes on to explain the authority by which testing is required and further states that no alternative assignments will be given to students during testing, nor absences excused on testing days as an alternative of opting out.

Click here to read the full letter.

Letter shared by Tracy Green: 

tracy.green@oldham.kyschools.us; https://twitter.com/OldhamCoSchools.