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An Act To Provide a Method for a Student To Be Excused from Standardized Testing
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §6215  is enacted to read:
§ 6215. Opt-out
 
1.  Parent's or guardian's right to opt out.     If a student's parent or guardian submits a written request to a school administrative unit to excuse the student from a standardized assessment administered pursuant to this chapter, the school administrative unit shall comply with the request and excuse the student in conformance with the request.
 
2.  School administrative unit.     A school administrative unit may not penalize a student for being excused from an assessment pursuant to subsection 1 and shall:
 
A.  Inform parents and guardians of the option to excuse a student from an assessment;
 
B.  Provide a student excused from an assessment with an educational activity while the assessment is being administered; and
 
C.  Post the form created by the department under subsection 3, paragraph A on the school administrative unit's publicly accessible website.
 
3.  Department.     The department may not penalize a school for excusing a student from an assessment pursuant to subsection 1 and shall:
 
A.  Create a form that a parent or guardian can use to request that a student be excused from an assessment and shall post the form on the department's publicly accessible website; and
 
B.  Notify parents and guardians of the option to excuse a student from an assessment by posting notice on the department's publicly accessible website.
 
4.  Teachers.     A teacher may inform a parent or guardian of the option to excuse a student from an assessment pursuant to subsection 1.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires a school administrative unit to excuse a student from a standardized assessment at the written request of the student's parent or guardian and establishes requirements for school administrative units and the Department of Education related to excusing a student.