Commissioner says parents can remove child from accelerated instruction

Parents filed a grievance with a school district, arguing that they had the right to remove their child from accelerated instruction. The district's board of trustees denied the grievance and the parents appealed to the commissioner of education.

The student did not take the STAAR test in the spring of 2022. The district notified the parents that the child would have to receive accelerated instruction in compliance with the requirement that a student must receive accelerated instruction in the applicable subject area during the subsequent summer or school year if they fail to perform in a satisfactory manner on the STAAR. The parents refused to allow their child to participate, arguing that another provision in the law allowed them to remove her from a class or school activity. The issue that the commissioner of education was asked to decide is if this law applies to the requirement that a district must provide accelerated instruction. The district argued that it did not because the accelerated instruction is required by law.

The commissioner concluded that a parent's general right to remove a child from a class did in fact apply to accelerated instruction and found that both laws could be given effect by interpreting the requirement to provide accelerated instruction to mean that it is required "unless" the parent exercises their right to refuse it.