FCPS Superintendent Recommends Refunding AP Test Fees

Fairfax County Public Schools  Superintendent Jack Dale recommended to the school board last week that the school system continue to require students to take Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, if enrolled in the course, but eliminate the related test fees.

Under Dale's proposal, parents would be refunded for all test fees that have already been collected. The elimination of the testing fees will result in a $2 million dollar reduction in the 2011 budget, school officials say. Last year the school district announced that students would be charged $75 for each Advanced Placement course they took.

Based on its third quarter-budget review, the loss of revenue for the school system can be accounted for by changes in revenue and expenditures in the budget.  Sales tax revenue for the 2011 budget is estimated to increase by $3 million, in addition to increases already shown by the mid-year budget review. 

Additionally the school system expects to pay $2 million less in compensation this year, because of increased turnover among school staff. The proposal is awaiting a vote from the school board.

The school system was forced to change its policy regarding the test fees after  Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli released an opinion in late January, arguing that charging students to take a mandatory exam if enrolled in the course was illegal.

On Jan. 28, Cuccinelli released an opinion, which argued that the fee was illegal because the examination was mandatory, if student enrolled in an Advanced Placement course. Virginia State Senator David Marsden (D-Fairfax) has also questioned the legality of the fee.

“The regulations of the Board of Education prohibit fees or charges unless authorized by the Board. The express purposes for which fees may be charged do not include examinations or classes (other than summer school or postgraduate courses),” said Cuccinelli in his statement.

“Because the Advanced Placement Examination test is the required end-of-course examination, it cannot reasonably be viewed as a service or program for which a fee may be levied.”