The first administration of the CMAS test has riled up students in Colorado. Students in the Boulder Valley School District, along with other districts, set up peaceful resistance including a petition on November 13th and 14th.

The protesters made a Google document that states their reasons for opting out, and in it they listed five reasons for their protest. Parents were also taking a stand in this by signing the opt out form for their students. Both them and their children are fighting this test for many reasons. Other tests, including the ACT, SAT, and AP testing, have been or are going to be given to seniors this year. “I think that we’ve been over tested this year as seniors,” senior Kerrie Macmillan said.

Protests have been going on at the schools, but while most are the protests, some went to school the days of the testing to take the test. They went for various reasons, but came anyways. These tests would affect the schools in Colorado. “That’s why I didn’t opt out, because it would just hurt the school and teachers,” senior Cameron Pittman said.

If the schools had less than 95% attendance at these tests, they could be put into improvement plans and lose the ability to perform certain tasks. “I don’t think teachers should be graded on how well we do on these tests.” senior Kerrie Macmillan said.

When students arrived at Monarch to do the test, only 30-40 of them showed up. Most of Monarch High’s graduation class had opted out of the CMAS. When asked, the teachers were not allowed to talk about the protests. There are several questions worth asking at this moment, will the CMAS be around next year? Will anyone be there to take it? Did this year’s protests affect that decision?