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Thousands of high school seniors from Boulder to the Denver suburbs are skipping new state-mandated science and social studies tests, the latest flare-up in an escalating battle over Colorado’s standardized tests.

The no-shows in some of the state’s highest-performing and wealthiest districts come amid growing anxiety about overtesting, uniting families in liberal Boulder and conservative Douglas County.

Supporters of the state’s academic standards and testing can take comfort in one thing: This is not an uprising against testing fourth-graders in math, but instead involves tired, disillusioned high school seniors thinking about college.

At nine Douglas County high schools, nearly 1,900 students did not take the tests, more than half of students, according to preliminary data.

Boulder Valley School District said more than 1,500 high school seniors did not take the tests. Only 16 percent of students district-wide did — including just two of 414 students at Boulder High.

In Cherry Creek School District, nearly 1,500 students were no-shows, or 37 percent of students, also according to preliminary data. At Cherry Creek High School, only 24 of 877 seniors took the tests.

Testing high school seniors online in science and social studies standards began last week and continues in some Colorado districts.

At a time they were supposed to be tested on their mastery of the two subjects, Fairview High School seniors in Boulder stood outside school Thursday with picket signs reading “Education not standardization” and “The man can’t keep me down.”

Others gathered in the gym to make signs and write letters to legislators, or collected canned food for low-income families.

“We have grown up taking standardized testing — since third grade,” said senior Jessica Piper. “This particular protest comes as a result of this frustration taking these tests we don’t feel are adequate.”

In a YouTube video, Fairview students complain they didn’t have input on tests that do not match what they’ve been taught.

Boulder Valley Superintendent Bruce Messinger has met with students and is sympathetic.

“This isn’t an anti-testing movement,” he said. “It’s more to say, ‘Do we need to look at the level of testing and timing of the testing?’ The feeling is we are just not there yet.”

Relatively few Colorado students skip state tests, although the numbers grew last spring after trending downward.

The absences reported this week at the three districts alone exceed the more than 4,100 refusals of English, math and writing tests in the spring statewide, records show. In 2013, about 2,800 students refused those tests.

Districts and schools face consequences if participation on state-mandated tests dips below 95 percent. For districts, it could mean a lowering of accreditation and other sanctions, and for schools it may lead to improvement plans. Students’ absences are excused if parents follow procedure and report them absent.

State Department of Education officials have made clear to districts in recent years assessments are not optional.

“I understand the frustration,” Colorado Education Commissioner Robert Hammond said in a statement. “I am fully committed to evaluating how the testing goes and working with districts and policymakers to identify ways to improve. I know that together we will find the best pathway forward that yields the best results for students.”

A task force created by state legislators is to issue recommendations on reforming state assessments in January. The issue then will be in the hands of the General Assembly.

The standards and tests in science and social studies were developed in Colorado and are not part of the politically charged Common Core standards the state also adopted in math and language arts.

Concerns about a poor showing also might also be a factor in the protests. In tests last spring, only 17 percent of Colorado fourth- and seventh-graders scored “strong” or “distinguished” in social studies.

Douglas County Superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen said the district is giving the tests in good faith and provides make-up dates. The Douglas County school board has been critical of state testing, especially new tests coming this spring aligned with the Common Core.

“We believe in accountability,” Celania-Fagen said. “We embrace it. It’s a very important part of what we do. However, we don’t think it’s the answer for seniors in high school. Colorado’s battery of testing has just gone too far, and this is why we are seeing parents, students and others push back so hard.”

Participation varied in the Cherry Creek district. Eighty-six percent of seniors tested at Overland High School, where half the students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches.

“Parents of high-achieving children feel like they have less to lose,” said district spokeswoman Tustin Amole. “They know their kids are going to do well regardless of whether they take the test.”

Edie Widoff said she held her son Ethan, a baseball player and student senator at high-achieving Cherry Creek High School, out of this week’s tests because his strong performance on college entrance exams and earlier state tests demonstrated he was ready for college.

“We did not feel like another test his senior year was in any way possibly beneficial to him,” she said. “I see the value in testing. … But by this point, even if the tests said he didn’t know something I wouldn’t believe it because he has proven he is ready to go.”

Her son instead spent Thursday on a college interview at the office of an alumnus of a school he is considering.

Eric Gorski: 303-954-1971, egorski@denverpost.com or twitter.com/egorski