SDUSD votes 4-0 to pursue legal action against invalidation of AP test scores
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — The San Diego Unified School Board voted 4-0 Thursday night to pursue legal action against the invalidation of AP test scores from Scripps Ranch High School.
Students, parents and the district officials say they’re getting a raw deal after a student was caught cheating on an Advanced Placement college test.
Wednesday night, the school district held a town hall about the errant AP exams. In a closed session Thursday, the school board decided to take legal action against the organization that’s in charge of these very important academic tests.
UPDATE: The Board of Education has voted 4-0 to pursue legal action against the invalidation of AP test scores from Scripps Ranch High.
— San Diego Unified (@sdschools) July 7, 2017
Related Link: 500 Scripps Ranch High School students must retake AP exam due to testing error
In May, when the AP tests were given in the library at Scripps Ranch High School, administrators made a mistake. They seated the students at 6-foot long tables, not 8-foot tables as required, and they also used partitions, another breach of the college board rules.
None of this would have come to the board’s attention, but then a student was caught cheating.
Board Trustee Kevin Beiser said the student who was pulled aside for wrongdoing was not allowed to finish the test that day, but Beiser said that’s no reason for 547 others students to be penalized.
The district has asked the college board to look at other options, short of tossing out the test results, but so far, Beiser said the college board has no sign of backing down.
Related Link: SDUSD holds public meeting over hundreds of invalid AP test scores
The preparations for a re-test are already underway, with board reps meeting at Marshall Middle School to discuss a new round of exams in mid-July and August.
Given the consequences, the school board is bracing for a new test in court and will ask a judge to force the college board to release the scores.
The school board will decide in the closed session what legal steps it will take. It’s possible that a request for a temporary restraining order may be filed by the end of the week.
It would then be up to a judge to decide if the college board could be ordered to release those test scores.
