Kansas test score averages won’t include the results of about 2,700 older students from three districts, including the state’s fifth-largest.

The Kansas Board of Education decided Wednesday to separately report the scores of McPherson, Clifton-Clyde and the Kansas City, Kan., districts because they didn’t give their eighth-grade and high school students the standard state exam.

The districts received a waiver allowing them to instead use the ACT college entrance exam and another test designed for younger students called ACT EXPLORE.

But excluding the Kansas City scores will inflate the statewide average. That’s because the district, which has 20,500 students, is the state’s poorest and has historically scored below the statewide average.

The McPherson and Clifton-Clyde districts only have about 2,700 students between them.