SAT papers that flew out of a UPS truck may require students at a Texas high school to retake the exam.
Seniors at El Paso High School were informed of the circumstance earlier this week. The district informed NBC affiliate KTSM-TV that all but 55 tests had been recovered.
“El Paso ISD is working closely with the College Board to determine a remedy for the El Paso High School students whose SAT exams were lost in transit after they were securely submitted to UPS,” spokesperson Liza Rodriguez said.
The tests in question were taken at the school on October 27.
Exams are “sometimes” lost in transportation, according to College Board, the company that oversees the administration of standardized tests like the SAT and PSAT.
“When such instances occur, we work with the school to ensure that students are able to retest as soon as possible,” the organization told the news station. “We are currently working with El Paso High School to provide options for the impacted students.”
According to the district, counsellors will give kids who want to take the ACT a waiver that entitles them to a free retake of the exam.
Zyenna Martinez, president of the student body, told KTSM that she is more worried about the sensitive data on the missing tests.
“On the test score sheets, we have all of our information and identification on the score — our location where we live, our address, our date of birth, all of our information. And it stinks because our identity is out there right now. Some people could have picked up some flyers,” she said.
How the testing became loose is unclear. UPS issued an apology and stated that its staff is still working to locate as many lost tests as they can.
“We will work with the school to resolve the situation. The driver’s actions, in this case, are not representative of UPS protocols and methods, and we are addressing this with him. Safely meeting our service commitments is UPS’s first priority,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Saturday.