AB 239

Under the bill, upon request of a parent or guardian, a school board, operator

of an independent charter school, and governing body of a private school

participating in a parental choice program must excuse a pupil enrolled in any grade

from 3 to 12 from taking any examination designed to measure pupil attainment of

knowledge and concepts (knowledge and concepts examination). Under current law,

upon request from a parent or guardian, a school board, operator of an independent

charter school, and governing body of a private school participating in a parental

choice program must excuse a pupil in 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grade from taking

the knowledge and concepts examination adopted by the state superintendent of

public instruction that is required to be administered to pupils in that grade. The

bill also prohibits the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) from considering how

many pupils enrolled in a school or school district have been excused from taking any

knowledge and concepts examination for purposes of the annual school and school

district accountability report published by DPI.

Finally, the bill requires each school board, operator of an independent charter

school, and governing body of a private school participating in a parental choice

program to provide the parent or guardian of each pupil enrolled in a public school

in the school district, the independent charter school, or the private school,

respectively, and to post on its Internet site, if any, a written summary of information

about certain examinations that will be administered to pupils enrolled in that

school.