Use of calculators nullified El Molino test results

The West Sonoma County school district will not appeal a penalty that nullified El Molino High School's Standardized Testing and Reporting program scores after a teacher mistakenly allowed 43 students to use calculators on a math test.

Without the STAR scores, both the state Academic Performance Index and federal Adequate Yearly Progress results cannot be calculated so El Molino will be classified as having not met federal standards, pushing the school into a one-year warning level.

If federal targets are not met in the round of testing administered next spring, El Molino will enter Year 1 of program improvement sanctions.

About 60 reports of testing irregularities were submitted to the state in this round of testing, according to the California Department of Education. Sixteen cases, including El Molino's, were determined to affect 5 percent or more of students taking the test, disallowing the entire campus's work.