With a parent/guardian's written request (can be via email), a student can be exempted from CAST / SBAC testing.


The parent's request must specify the particular test being exempted from (e.g. would need to specify whether it's the SBAC ELA/Math and/or CAST).


Once the school has shared the parent/guardian's request with us, we can enter the exemption into TOMS using the process below.:


  1. Log into CAASPP TOMS
  2. Navigate to Students --> Enter their SSID --> Select SEARCH
  3. Select the magnifying glass icon under ACTIONS
  4. Select Test Assignments --> Select COND. CODE in the Current Active Test Assignments panel
  5. Select PGE as the Condition Code --> Select SAVE
  6. Repeat as necessary for each subject
    • Note a subject's COND. CODE button will be greyed out if the student is no longer eligible for that test (if for instance the test was already completed)
  7. Scroll down to bottom of Test Assignment page and select SAVE.


In addition, we'll want to check on the subgroup compliance implications to explain what impact the exemption will have on reaching 95% for particular subgroup(s). Exemptions are penalized by compliance completion calculations - meaning, an exemption will count towards the denominator (i.e. the overall eligible count), reducing the wiggle room for that school to achieve the 95% completion target. 


  1. If the exempted student is a SPED/EL/AA student, determine the following via PowerSchool...
    • If the particular subgroup(s) that student is a part of exceeds the 30 student threshold.
      • If YES, explain to the school how that exemption impacts their subgroup completion calculation/target (using specific numbers - e.g. if the school has 35 SPED 11th graders, explain to the school that they now can maximally achieve a 34/35 completion rate and that they must effectively test all 34 SPED kids to avoid the penalty on the CA School Dashboard.
      • If NO, no further action required other than to let them know that the exemption was entered into TOMS.

Note that school's cannot advise/discourage exemption - strictly prohibited practice so they should not be advised to ask that the parent/guardian rescind the request.