My kids attended the same high school district that this student's school, Canyon Crest Academy (CCA), is part of. My youngest has friends that attended CCA and I asked him once why he didn't want to attend (it's an open school district) -- his reply is "all they do is study for AP tests."
So I'm thinking there might be other pressures (i.e. parental) to perform, and this student may have responded in a desperate fashion.