With the contested testing set to begin Wednesday, Hall County Schools Superintendent Will Schofield further clarified how parents may refuse the Georgia Milestones exam for their children at Monday night’s school board meeting at Flowery Branch High School.

A number of parents in Hall County have expressed their opposition to the Georgia State Milestones Assessment, a comprehensive exam for students in grades three through 12. The test must be presented to every child, but some parents do not wish for their students to take it.

Parent Lisa Farmer spoke out during a public comment section of Monday’s meeting.

“I can’t find any law that says that, any guideline, any rule or really any precedent that says a 9-, 10-, 11-year-old child would need to go in and tell their teacher no,” said Farmer, who has children in the northern part of the district. “We as parents of Hall County have said no for our children.”

The test would not affect students’ grades this year but would represent 20 percent of a high school student’s grade in future years.

At the meeting, Schofield said that parents wishing to refuse the test for their child need only to send a note to the school. He also asked that the parent have the child bring a book or an activity while the Georgia Milestones exam is administered.

“We will code that test present but not tested,” Schofield said. “Again, it’s going to be a challenge for the state in terms of what they do with those test booklets.”