Fairfax County is going to reimburse parents for the money they had to spend on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests after the Virginia attorney general ruled the fees illegal. The school system will lose at least $2 million by refunding the fees to comply with Ken Cuccinelli’s decision that “a local school board cannot impose a mandatory fee on students taking Advanced Placement courses for the required taking of the Advanced Placement Examination.”

This school year was the first that Fairfax school officials included $75 fees per AP and IB exam and a $100 sports fee to combat the recession’s effects. The county has reduced its per-student spending by about $740 to $12,597 the last two years as the school system’s budget was reduced by $52.5 million to $2.2 billion and enrollment shot up by 7,000 students.