"It is overly punitive and devastating to Trabuco Hills High School, the district and this community. While we admit some mistakes were made, to punish innocent groups of students is unprofessional and unnecessary."
Dan McClure, 18, who started a Facebook website group for disgruntled parents and students and was appointed a co-chairman of Justice for 375, said six of his AP scores -- macro and microeconomics, biology, English, chemistry and statistics -- were nullified. AP exams test college-level work in 22 subject areas that can earn students credit and advanced placement at most colleges and universities.
"At first I thought, No, this can't be serious," the UC Berkeley-bound McClure said. "I was mad to say the least; I had to get people together. The only way we can do this is to show them that they can't walk all over us."
But the group will face a tough road. The Princeton, N.J.-based Educational Testing Service, which administers AP exams, the SAT and other tests for the College Board, insisted Thursday that reinstating the scores was off the table, setting up a classic showdown with irate parents who see trusted educational institutions -- in this case the testing agencies and the school -- letting them down.
"For some of these students, it's the difference between entering college as a freshman or a sophomore," said David McClure, Dan's father. "It's a first year of college credits; that's how much it's going to cost these students."
Retesting has been scheduled for the week of Aug. 11. But many parents and students say the dates conflict with long-planned vacations and other commitments. Many say it will be difficult to prepare, again, for the tests.
Roger Faubel said that in a celebratory gesture, his daughter Alex, 18, burned the notes for four exams whose scores were subsequently canceled.
"Nobody has told the students how they're going to get their primary textbooks to study," he said, noting that most school offices are closed and teachers are away for the summer. "If they are going to do something, they need to do something to help the students soon."
It's definitely unfortunate, said Testing Service spokesman Jason Baran. The vast majority of students were honest, he conceded. If there had just been cheating, he said, only those students' scores would be affected. But rampant irregularities at the test site left the agency no choice.
