Judge Denies Request to Reinstate Test Scores

A Superior Court judge on Friday denied a request by 250 Mira Costa High School students to have their advanced-placement test scores made valid after the scores were thrown out last month because students were seated too close to each other.

Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien denied the group’s request for a temporary restraining order but scheduled an Aug. 15 hearing for more arguments.

Attorney Steven Kirby, whose daughter Allison is among the Manhattan Beach students whose scores were invalidated, said Educational Testing Service brochures state that each student should have been notified about why test scores were tossed out. Students then should have been allowed to dispute the testing company’s decision or retake the exam to reconfirm the grade they received in the first test, Kirby said.

But Bruce Berman, attorney for the testing firm, said those notifications only apply to cases in which individual misconduct occurs, such as talking or copying. When there is an administrative error in placing students too close to each other, the testing service is obligated to throw out the entire group’s scores, he said.

The testing firm said the students can retake the tests free the weeks of Aug. 11 and Aug. 25.