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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 administered pursuant to the State's assessment program 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.