In February, Lewis-Palmer school board made an official statement towards the Colorado Department of Education. This was in response to the state mandate that testing requirements and curriculum standards needed to be increased. LPSD has always preformed above and beyond the state average in testing and educational services. Due to the superior testing results of Lewis-Palmer, the school board has requested that LPSD be exempt from these new educational reformations.

On March 11, school board members sent out a notice to any LPSD Stakeholders, asking them to contact their local representatives, state school board members and Governor Hickenlooper requesting that LPSD not be subject to these new mandates.

The primary reason the board wants the district to be excused from these requirements is the lack of funding that will be given to the district for them. The response letter states that there have already been too many budget divergences going toward state educational reforms, and with these new reformations even more funds will have to be redirected towards mandated testing and away from the services that the district provides for the students.

Other reasons the district is requesting an exempt status is that testing takes away from instructional and educational time that students need, the lack of consideration for the student as an individual in consideration to these tests and the observable excellence in education in the district.