Local Parents Opt-Out Students From State Assessment Exams

For the first time in local school history, and despite a strong warning from the New York State Education Department, local parents are opting students out of state assessment exams in the Bayport-Blue Point and Sayville school districts.  

Eight elementary students and nine middle school students in Sayville requested not to take the state tests this week, according to Superintendent Dr. Walter Schartner.  

The number was almost as big in B-BP, with 14 elementary students opting out, according to Superintendent Dr. Vincent Butera.  

As Patch reported last week, there is a state-wide opt-out movement this year by parents who believe the testing has become too stressful and too invasive within the educational environment.

This is the first year for assessing the new state Core Curriculum, which many districts have not completed implementing. State education officials acknowledge test results will reflect that with expected low scores.  

The fallout from opting out for a district is the chance of not meeting state test attendance requirements. Failure to have 95% of students take the exams could result in loss of Title I funding as well as ignite a state educational review of a district.
 
While state officials told Patch that no new districts will be identified as "Focus Districts" and no new schools will be identified as "Priority Schools" based on 2012-13 assessment results, there are multiple negative consequences for not meeting the 95 percent participation rate requirement.

Schools that do not meet the participation rate could fail to make annual yearly progress stipulations and cannot become Reward Schools and are therefore ineligible to receive the funding that comes with that designation    

Neither school chiefs in B-BP and Sayville expect to have to deal with that scenario due to the opt-out requests.  

“The general numbers should be fine but the breakdown demographic number we are not so sure about,” said Schartner.  

Regarding B-BP’s opt-out figure Butera stated it represents a very small percent of the student population. 

State exam assessments continue in both districts next week and Patch will update this story.