Mom says son lost valedictorian honor after message on standardized test
RICHMOND, Mo. - Thursday afternoon, Judy Hillegas received a startling call from Richmond High School concerning her son Miles and his AP Physics II test.
The mother of the prospective valedictorian was baffled at what could be wrong.
“I thought what did he do? They took out the scantron and showed it to me and said look at that. I said it looks like a scantron and they said 'Look at it closely.' And I said it's just filled out bubbles his name and ID,” Hillegas said.
They told her look one more time.
“They said if you look closely it spells out ‘Why did I take AP physics?’” Hillegas said.
Hillegas told 41 Action News that her son had made repeated complaints to district personnel that the teacher was not qualified to teach an AP Physics class. She said he did not feel well prepared for the college placement exam.
“I think it was just a quiet act of frustration of, ‘Hey, we're not getting prepared the way we need to here,’” Hillegas said.
She said her son also made stick figure drawings in the free answer portion of the test. She said school staff were not happy with his decision to take the test lightly and declared that his test would be invalidated. As a result, she said, he would lose the weighted portion of his AP grade causing him to lose his valedictorian status.
We contacted the Richmond, Mo., school district and asked about Miles’ situation.
Citing federal student privacy laws, the superintendent said he could not comment on Miles’ situation or even confirm if he took a test and if it was declared invalid.
However, he said in AP classes, students receive a grade for completing the class and an extra half a point for completing an AP level class. Then, they can also earn an additional extra half a point for completing the AP test to gain college credit. The idea is to encourage kids to pay for and take that test to see if they can get college credit for that class.
If a student did not complete the test, the student would not be eligible for that additional half a point.
Hillegas told 41 Action News she was told the test would not be valid. However, she contacted the college board and showed us emails where a coordinator confirmed they would be scoring Miles’ test as submitted.
Hillegas said her son did apologize to administrators and wrote them apology letters. She also said she understood why he would not be allowed to speak at graduation this Sunday.
However, she said she believes Miles exercised his right to free speech and that the district is in violation of its own policy prohibiting teachers from using grades as a form of punishment.
She said he is worried that the change in his GPA could affect the scholarships he has already earned to attend the University of Missouri in the fall to study engineering.
“He's remorseful. He wrote the (apology) letters. He understands he's not going to get to give the speech. I ask that you reconsider not giving him his points,” Hillegas said.Mom says son lost valedictorian honor after message on standardized test - + KSHB.com:
