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Geddes, NY - The Westhill Central School District is home to a National Blue Ribbon School, recognized as one of the best in the state and the nation.

But because so many elementary and middle school students have refused to take the state English Language Arts tests this week, the district that prides itself on high academic achievement may fall in the state ratings to one that needs improvement.

Westhill, where 77 students out of about 850 students refused to take the exam, isn't alone.

The Central Square School District had 230 students who also refused to take the exam given over three days to students in grades 3-8. The district has about 1,920 students in those grades.

At Westhill , that means about 91 percent took the exam. At Central Square, about 88 percent took the exam, based on an estimated enrollment of 1,920 eligible students.

The state has said that districts must have 95 percent of the eligible students take the English exams this week and the math exams later this month. If a district misses the mark, it is considered to have failed to make adequate yearly progress. Two years of failing to make progress means the district would have to write a plan to improve the areas in which it falls short.

This is the second year of a movement by parents who are urging their children not to take the exams. The parents are unhappy with the state tests and the common core learning standards that go along with them.

Last year, 1.1 million New York students took the exams, with 5,000 to 6,000 or less than 1 percent refused. Early reports from around the state this year show the refusal rate is probably higher.

"Failure of a school to meet the participation rate requirement will cause that school to fail to make AYP (adequate yearly progress) and may over time cause that school to lose its Good Standing status," said Jonathan Burman, speaking for the state Department of Education in an email.

"When students opt out of state assessments, districts and schools are at risk of becoming ineligible for grants, such as Reward School Grants, that require schools and/or districts to make AYP and/or be in Good Standing as a condition for funding," he said.

The assessments are a good way for parents and districts to see where students need to improve, and who wouldn't want to know that, Burman said.

The students' refusals put Westhill in an interesting position. Down the road it could mean writing an improvement plan for a school already nationally recognized as excellent. Westhill' s Cherry Road Elementary School was named a National Blue Ribbon School this fall because of its academic excellence.

District Superintendent Casey Barduhn estimated 9 percent of the students eligible to take the exam refused. Those students were allowed to stay home until testing time was over, he said.

Barduhn said he's not sure how the state will handle districts that do not reach the 95 percent mark. There are probably a number of schools across the state going through the same experience, he said.

"I don't think anybody really knows what's coming next," Barduhn said. "It's not a Westhill or Onondaga County issue."

The Central Square School District in Oswego County saw 230 of its students refuse to take the test, said Superintendent Joseph Menard. The superintendent said the district has not yet calculated the percentage of students who opted out of the exam.

However, he's concerned that Central Square will also fall below the 95 percent threshold and be pushed into the failure to make adequate yearly progress category.

"We're very concerned about not reaching our 95 percent participation," he said. "We've never really had to deal with this before."

Central Square would also have to file an improvement plan if it failed to make adequate yearly programs for two years. But Menard has other concerns too.

"We're concerned if this will have any impact on the federal grant money we receive," he said. "We're not sure at this time."

Contact Charley Hannagan by phone or text at 315-470-2161, by email at channagan@syracuse.com, on Facebook at Neighbors West or on Twitter @charleypost.

