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Parent Refusal of Federal, State, and District Assessments

Please reach out to the Principal or Assistant Principal/School Testing Coordinator at your student's school to initiate the process and complete a Refusal Form.

When a parent/guardian (“parent”) refuses federal/state/district mandated assessments for his/her child(ren):

1st Action –

Principal responds. Communication with parents should include:

  • A request to discuss the value of participating in assessments.
  • Information regarding the nature of "Opting Out": There is no legal right for parents and students to opt out of federal/state-mandated assessments without consequences. Furthermore, the district does not have the legal right or ability to allow parents and students to opt out of select federal/state-mandated assessments without applying the state-prescribed consequences (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-281-285, SBOE 160-4-2-.11, SBOE 160-4-2-.13).

·If asked by the parent to explain the consequences, state:

  • For elementary and middle school students, Georgia Milestones results inform promotion/retention at the 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade levels.
  •  For high school students and middle school students taking an EOC-assessed course, Georgia Milestones results on End of Course Assessments constitute 20% of the student's semester grade.
  • Failure to participate in the administration of a required EOC assessment will result in the student receiving a “0” for the EOC grade in the course.  This “0” will count as 20% of the student’s course grade.  (APS BOE IHA-R(2)).
  • If the parent chooses to keep the student at home during assessments, the district cannot waive its attendance policy requirements for assessment-related absences.

If parents continue to refuse their child’s participation in mandatory state assessments:

2nd Action –

Principal sends the appropriate Assessment Refusal Principal Letter to Parents along with the official Refusal to Participate in Federal/State/District Assessments Form to parents for them to sign and submit back to the principal. Please file this documentation in the student's file.

Upon receipt of the Refusal to Participate in Federal/State/District Assessments Form:

  • The principal shall notify his/her Associate Superintendent and the Director of Testing + Assessment in writing to confirm receipt of the form and detail how the principal has responded to the parent to date, including the dates/times/locations of any/all parent meetings pertaining to the parent's request to refuse testing.

For Students in the building during the testing day(s) whose parents have refused testing:

Students should receive an educational activity away from the mandated assessments, but not in an environment that is unduly confining.  They must not be treated punitively in any way and should be appropriately supervised by an adult.

Examples of appropriate activities are:

  • Computer lab time
  • Reading activities
  • Student-directed homework, reading, project work
  • Acceptable environments: library or media center, classroom, or other non-confining spaces

Unacceptable environments: testing rooms with other students, alone in offices, In-School Suspension facilities, etc.

The Principal, Test Coordinator, or other designee must document the student's refusal to test as "Parent Refusal" for non-participation purposes.

If a student refuses testing (without prior communication with a parent/guardian), the school should do the following on testing day:

If a student refuses testing without any previous correspondence between the student's parent/guardian and the principal and the student does not produce a parent letter at the time of testing refusal, obtain the student's refusal to test in writing and have the student sign the refusal for documentation purposes.

  • Notify the parents of the student refusal and state-prescribed consequences (if any) should the student continue to refuse to be tested.
  • The Principal, Test Coordinator, or other designee must document the student's refusal to test as "Present, Test Not Attempted (PTNA)" for non-participation purposes.
Please reach out to the Principal or Assistant Principal/School Testing Coordinator at your student's school to initiate the process and complete the Refusal Form.