The Vancouver School Board is mailing parents a letter that explains how students can avoid taking the controversial Foundation Skills Assessment tests.

In the letter, the board outlines how parents can have their children exempted based on illness, vacation, or undefined "extenuating circumstances."

The tests, known as F.S.A.'s, are given in grades four and seven to children across B.C., but they have become controversial because some organizations feel they are used unfairly in the Fraser Institute's annual ranking of schools.

The B.C. Teachers Federation has said teachers shouldn't administer them because they're not useful or accurate.

Vancouver School Board chair Patti Bacchus said the board's official position is that students are expected to write the tests.

"We're hoping that the letter we send to parents clarifies the issue. It explains what the F.S.A.'s are, when they're administered, what they're about and what their reason is, and that we do expect all students to write," she said.

Bacchus maintains the board isn't taking part in the political battle over the tests; it simply wants to keep parents informed with the letter.

"However, it does make reference to the position our district parent advisory council has taken, that it is up to the individual parent to make that determination whether their child should participate. So then we just clarify the procedure, if they would like to go about that," she said.

The school board has sent out similar letters in the past, Bacchus said.

The Ministry of Education maintains the tests are mandatory for students.