Vancouver trustees to send letter home explaining how parents may request to have children excused from the FSA
Board & Committees
Vancouver, B.C. – (January 12, 2009) – Vancouver’s Board of Education trustees will sending a letter home to parents of Grades 4 and 7 students clarifying the process for a parent to request their child be excused from writing the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA).
Trustees endorsed a motion Monday to respect Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council’s position that it is up to parents to decide whether or not their child should participate in the FSA.
“We recognize we have a diverse parent community and that parents have a range of opinions about the FSA. We simply want to provide clarity in terms of the process for participating or not,” said Trustee Patti Bacchus, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Education.
“At this point, the board is not taking a position on the FSA. In fact, it is our expectation that most students will write them.”
For parents who want their child excluded from participating in one or more of the FSA components, the letter will streamline the process for requesting the exclusion. Parents will be able to place a checkmark beside one of three exclusions allowed by the Ministry of Education, before returning the form to the school principal.
The FSA is a set of three tests covering specific reading, writing and numeracy skills in the provincial curriculum. It measures skills students gain over several school years, not only in a single year. FSA scores are not letter grades or percentages, and do not count toward a student’s report card marks or graduation requirements.
Principals determine if students are excused from one, two or all three FSA components based on Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and English-as-a-second language (ESL) proficiency. Parents may request the principal excuse a student in the event of a family emergency, a lengthy illness or other extenuating circumstances.
For more information, contact:
Patti Bacchus, Board of Education chair – 604-250-1130
David Weir, VSB communications manager – 604-713-5074
