Lake Region seniors petition to lower test weighting

It's normal for most kids to experience jitters when it comes time for final exams and standardized tests, but a pair of seniors at Lake Region High School say some of Polk County's testing causes unnecessary stress on students. 

Final exams for subjects like pre calculus, U.S. Government, chemistry, physics, and journalism will be worth 30-percent of a student's grade under the new guidelines from the school system. 

"They'll see a high percentage of grades that will plummet because of these tests," said senior Christina Rivera.

Rivera is the valedictorian of her class, and launched an online petition to change the system.

Last year, it was up to teachers to decide how much weight an end-of-the-year final exam would have in a student's grade. This year, Polk County is standardizing that weight at 30-percent. Rivera says it should be closer to 10 or 15-percent.

Rivera and Bruno also think the test is confusing and has errors.

The district is defending it decision, and says that even doing poorly on it would not be as devastating as many students fear.

"You could drop one letter grade, no more than that," Jacqueline Bowen, Associate Superintendent of Polk County Schools told FOX 13.