SUCCESS! Putting it in the File!

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From DC

This is our 3rd year of Opting-out of STAAR. This is the first year where we have had true success and no fightback.
 My middle son is in 4th grade and this will be his second year of STAAR. Last year I kept my son home during the assessments only because he was not capable of standing up for himself, always afraid of hurting someone’s feelings. After a bit of debate, the principal agreed to put the refusal letter into my son’s file. This year, the principal asked if I was letting Colt take STAAR which I declined. He said it was not a problem and that all he needed was my refusal letter so he could file it.
My oldest is in 7th grade and new school. He also has an IEP and in a SPED program. I have fought this so hard for the past two years with much resistance. Luckily Alex has no problem defying authority figures and laughed when he wrote refuse on the assessment. This year, all I had to do was send in my refusal letter. The principal said thank you and that he would put the letter in my son’s file.

SUCCESS: Success Everywhere with Everything!

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From CWade

I have 3 children. My opt out began in 2019.  Why? Because my oldest (in 4th grade) had developed acute cerebella ataxia. Although at the time we didn’t know it. Took us months to find the right neurologist to diagnose him. (From a strep infection, no less).  This made his brain not function well. He couldn’t stand up without losing his balance, dizzy all the time, couldn’t concentrate, had a hard time comprehending instruction, multitasking, etc. Loud noises and brightness were hard on him. School became a difficult time for a once very healthy kid.

 

We decided to place him in a Medical 504, with the urging of his neurologist. Who happened to tell us Jacob doesn’t have to take STAAR. (Dr. Josh Rotenberg). He did not tell me about your group, just said he doesn’t have to take it.

 

I decided to do some research. We successfully opted him out in 2019.  Briargrove Elementary, HISD.

 

I know in 2020 it was an option, but we still opted out him and his brother, Zachary, who was in 3rd grade and now supposed to take STAAR. Neither child did. (5th grade & 4th grade). Also, their teacher, Ms. Nicole McDonald, 4th grade is awesome. She has had both my boys now and ready. By this time (2020), I had found this group on Facebook. I watched, I read, I followed.

 

2021, my oldest is now at Tanglewood Middle School (HISD) for 6th grade and I thought I would get push back. I turned in the letter available from this group. School had no issues. We made a plan for where Jacob would go during testing, and he could still attend. (Due to his ataxia, he does miss some school and I would not let the school have me keep him home. There’s plenty of schoolwork he can do on campus). I made sure to send the letter to the Dean of Innovation (school broken into 2 groups), cc’d each subject teacher, the school counselor (I think she wears many hats, ie testing coordinator??), and the principal. I was not going to have a staff member say, “we didn’t know”. Tanglewood was very respectful and did not push back once.

 

2021, my middle, Zachary had Ms. McDonald, 4th grade, and she was patiently waiting for my letter. (Briargrove Ele. -HISD). I also sent the testing coordinator, each subject teacher, principal and vice principal my letter.

 

*side note* between 2020-2021 we had Zachary tested for dyslexia from a previous teacher reaching out to us and recommend it. He was placed on a 504 for Dyslexia.

 

2020-2021, my daughter, Lauren is now in 3rd grade. I sent the same letter to her teacher and the same players as Zachary, a different teacher though. No push back here.

 

I was also approached for HB4545 for Zachary (2020/2021: can’t remember exact year). Let me tell you, Mrs. Berlin (Briargrove) was very sneaky about this: all sweet and innocent stating it will help him in the areas he needs help in. Thankfully I took it home and read and reread it. Right about the time this page was talking about it. Finding information from this page, I said absolutely not. Then made sure the 3:1 teacher ratio was clicked. (It was not and I changed it immediately for all 3 of my kids).

 

2021-2022, bad year for Zachary at school with teachers not cooperating in his 504 accommodations and not taking what I explained to them to heart (ie, how kid operates, what motivates him, etc.). I’m fighting to advocate for him. I made formal complaints.

 

But I was still able to successfully opt him out. Same letter, dated for that year and all the same players.

 

Lauren gets to 4th grade and she has Ms. McDonald. We LOVE her! She reached out to check if we are opting Lauren out and I said yes, she said “I’ll wait for your letter”.

 

So, for all my kids, I have sent the same letter you guys provide with all the legal verbiage. I change according to year and kid. I also make sure I send HB4545 for each of them at the beginning of the year.  This year, for my 5th grader, the new testing coordinator requested that I fill out a form for STAAR opt out, which I posted on Texans Against STAAR asking for some advice as the letter was not all correct.  I crossed out the points that were not correct and initialed that and signed the letter along with requesting them to make sure a copy of the Opt Out Letter I sent it to be placed in her school file.

I have not had any push back for practice/interim assessments.  All three of my kids go to school on those days and we have a plan in place.  To work on school items or read or something that is quiet and constructive.  They all are placed in a conference room with a staff member checking on them.   (I do this because the 2021-2022 school year, my 5th grader and4th grader were placed in the hallway during the entire assessment time and when I found out, I let the school have it, politely of course, but placing kids in a hallway with no one around for 4 hours is unacceptable in my books.  So now, I make sure they have a comfortable place to be other than a hallway).

 

Now, next year I will have high school to worry about so I am saving and reading all I can from this website.  I cannot thank all of you enough for this.   On the note of high school, my son was able to get into Westside High School Engineering program with his Matrix score (over 900) WITHOUT the STAAR scores.  It goes to show you, it is not valid.  (Even when I spoke to Lamar High Scholl and Westside, I asked about the STAAR and explained to them that my children do not take it and how do I make sure he has a chance for a seat?  They both told me, they will go by Matrix and the 7th grade year report card).

 

This is my success story.  (I have 2 kids on a 504 and one GT and they do not take STAAR).  I am respectful, polite, yet firm and I don’t back down.  It is due to this group that I gained the confidence to stand my ground and advocate for my children.  It was very nerve wracking at first but once I turned in the first letter and the school understood I was not going to budge, I did not receive any push back.

SUCCESS! In person refusal and out of testing area!

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From AG

6th Grade.  Granbury ISD. I sent in our opt out letter last week and received a phone call yesterday from the principal and testing cordinator. They are going to comply with our opt out! I was expecting some pushback, thankfully not! My child will need to refuse on testing day and she will be moved to a non testing area. I call this a win! I also went ahead and sent in our HB4545 refusal so that her electives aren’t taken from her when school starts back in the fall. Another mom in the group got the same response (we’re in the same district if she wants to comment I’ll leave that up to her 💙💜)!

SUCCESS! No Password; No STAAR.

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From MMC

They will always tell you it’s “required;” they tried forcing us the first year. I knew my rights, I sent a letter, she did not attend in testing days. When it was make up dates she went in. They handed her the test, she handed it back, they then handed it back to her saying it was not complete. She then handed it back and said “I’m good.” They released her to class.

We had a password set up because they did try to tell her I said for her to just try it. She asked for the password, they didn’t have it. She said I need to go see my mom in the office. Needless to say, they don’t try either of us anymore. Now, she just misses the 2 test days, her principal has it noted, and she never is offered the makeup test. They even called me this year to check to see if she could play what they call “STAAR War” games since they know how I am about STAAR. It was just like group games for review. She played them. But they knew they better confirm with me first.

SUCCESS! Middle school STAAR and AI Opt Out!

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From JD

I was successful of opting both sons 7th and 8th graders out this year again at Somerset ISD. Did so since the beginning of the year and although principal tried to give me a hard time at the beginning of the year of opting out of the tutoring classes offered to those who didn’t pass STAAR (can’t remember what they’re called lol), I stood my ground and he was removed within a day. My son will be a freshman next year and the education administrator I think that was what she said was her position in the district said he can’t opt out in high school. I laughed and told her it was lies and that I’d get to that when my son enters hs in the fall. Thank you and to this wonderful group, I’ve gotten more knowledge than I ever knew was available to parents

SUCCESS! Principal Accepts Refusal, Won’t Present Assessment

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From CS
I am feeling great! 🎉🎉🎉
– I submitted the opt out letter to the school on Monday.
– I received a generic response letter from the school on Wednesday telling me I couldn’t opt out.
– I then sent the STAAR follow-up refusal letter and by the end of the day today, I received a phone call from the principal informing me that she WOULD NOT present the assessment to my child the day of “testing” or any day after. 🎉
She was very appreciative of the documentation I sent because I also sent copies of the emails from Julie Cole. The principal confirmed that she would submit a blank score for him and he would spend the day with second graders that are not subjected to STAAR. THANK YOU SO MUCH TxEdRights! Because of you, I feel kick ass! 😂 I didn’t ask too many questions on here but instead, followed your step by step instructions and watched your videos! 🙏🏼♥️🙏🏼. My job is not done. I will be following up the day after testing to confirm my child’s score was submitted. Then we will do this every year, to which the principal already seemed to understand. 😃. You can do this parents! Don’t back down!

SUCCESS! School Sends Opt Out Form for Signature

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From CG

My son is in 4th grade at Jim Ned Lawn Elementary School (Jim Ned CISD).  I became aware of the possibility of opting out of STAAR when he was at the end of his 3rd grade year.  I dove in doing as much research as I could and joined Texans Take Actions Against STAAR on facebook.  In February 2023, I emailed the first opt out letter to the school including the principal, counselor and all three of his teachers.  A little over a week later I received a telephone call from the school admin office.  I received the standard lecture about how opting out is not an option, he has to take and pass the STAAR to graduate, if he is at school we have to make him take it, you can’t keep him home because the testing window is 17 days and that would put him over his limit of missed school days, his teachers really feel he can pass this with no issues.   I explained that I have no doubt that my child can pass the staar but that has nothing to do with our decision for him not to participate.  I advised her to please put all of this in writing and send it to me and that she was actually incorrect on multiple things she listed and needed to do some research before calling anyone else on this subject.  A few weeks went by and crickets.  I had heard nothing from the school.  So on April 5th I emailed the follow-up opt out letter this time to the same people but including our school superintendent.  A week to the day later I received an email from the principal with an attachment.  The attachment was on school letterhead asking for my signature with information they needed to make sure I “understand” for opting my child out.  the standard you must submit a written request to exclude your child; you understand your child’s test will be marked as “s” which will result in the lowest possible score; performance on staar/eoc assessments are required by TEC;  HB4545 specifies they are required 30 hours of accelerated instruction per subject (I added at the end that it is required the school offers it not that we have to accept); and the score your child will receive as a result of you choosing to exclude them will hurt the campus and district’s state and federal accountability ratings.   I have signed and returned the school’s CYA letter and honestly feel like this wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.  Staar for our kids start next week and run for the next 17 days.  I fully expect to hear from my child that they didn’t push it.  He has been instructed and we have been preparing daily for him to politely refuse and if anyone gets ugly to call me.  But I’m truly not expecting any issues from this point forward.

SUCCESS! Middle school and high school opt outs facilitated!

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From S.B.

Plano ISD
This year, I submitted my refusal letter to my 8th grader’s principal and counselor.. Initially, I received “Received” as a reply from the principal. After a couple of weeks, I emailed again asking his preference on what to do with my child on administration days. He told me to fill out the absence form for the initial administration days and that he would approve it, that way my kid could do any makeup work with no hassles. And, that was it!
For my 10th grader, I emailed the same refusal letter and the counselor called me. She went over what his options were and wanted to make sure I understood the acceptable substitutions. Months later during a 504 meeting, it was outlined that he will not be taking EOCs and will be utilizing subs, instead.

Success: High School Graduation via Sub Assessments!

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Our younger daughter graduated from high school last May. She hadn’t taken a STAAR Assessment since 5th grade. We used substitute assessments, IGC for US History, and she received the Covid waivers. Her US History IGC project was a report about the Civil Rights era. She spun it to include our decision to practice civil disobedience by refusing STAAR to reflect our beliefs that STAAR is a prejudiced system that specifically targets students of color, students of a lower socioeconomic status, students with learning disabilities, etc. She is the first student to opt out in our district (Pleasanton ISD) and received her diploma with all her earned honors. She is currently a freshman at Texas A&M University. TAMU never once asked about her missing STAAR scores. Colleges don’t care! We were blessed with a very supportive district and campus administration (or else they just didn’t want to deal with us anymore), but we also went into every single meeting prepared with all the information gleaned from this page. Many times we were educating our schools about opt out rights, but the facts from txedrights.net clearly spell it out.
STAAR is not required.

Opting out/refusing STAAR and HB 4545 is legal.

-Tammy H.
Pleasanton ISD
Pleasanton, TX

Success: IGC Graduation – No Retests

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From CF

In 2022, when my daughter was a senior at United Independent School District in Laredo, Texas, I received an incredible amount of pushback for the  ENTIRE YEAR as I opted my senior out of testing and requested an IGC, but I didn’t give in! I kept pushing and my daughter’s graduation kept being threatened. Literally, my daughter was told by her administrator at USHS,  to her face without my presence on more than one occasion, “I hope you know your mom is risking your graduation.” She too didn’t give in, and I’m so incredibly proud of her.  She even told them, “It’s ok. I have an uncle in Austin who is willing to pay for my CVEP and I’m sure that wouldn’t look good for you.” Still, they pushed back.

With tremendous help from an educational advocate we put together NUMEROUS emails sent to my daughter’s administrator who then involved district personnel such as the executive director of high school education. I then involved the counselor and had her verify in writing that my daughter has met all graduation requirements. Eventually we involved and carbon copied TEA into our emails.

For those who are still learning, TEA states students are to be given the opportunity to an IGC, individual graduation committee BEGINNING at the END of their JUNIOR year. This district CHOSE NOT TO time after time stating the child MUST retest at EVERY opportunity, but being I’ve helped other families I knew they were all lies. I seriously didn’t expect this much trouble though. They pushed the IGC until March, then May!!!! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!

So after compiling another email to TEA asking for direct clarification on the IGC my daughter was FINALLY granted her right to one!!!! She completed the project in no time and proudly walked the stage.

Parents keep pushing! YOU CAN AND YOU WILL WIN!

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