Hundreds of El Paso High School students will have to retake the SAT after the submitted scantrons fell out of the back of a delivery vehicle on October 28.
Even though all but 55 out of the 315 tests were recovered, everyone will have to redo the test as they were considered “compromised,” according to the school.
Students were told of the mishap last Wednesday. The SATs would not be scored because they had flown off the UPS truck that was delivering them to the scoring center.
UPS immediately apologized for the situation, though the incident is still under investigation. They said in a statement, “We have apologized to the school and extend our apologies to the students. The driver’s actions in this case are not representative of UPS protocols and methods, and we have addressed this with him. Safely and reliably meeting our service commitments is (sic) UPS’s first priority.”
The College Board is working to ensure that the students can do their retake test as soon as possible. Furthermore, El Paso ISD offered to let students opt to take the ACT instead this December 10 to replace their SAT score free of charge.
However, senior Ezra Ponzio, whose test was compromised, does not see this as a good replacement as he did not prepare for the ACT but the SAT.
Ponzio explained that he might decide instead to apply to college using the “test-optional” choice, but there is a chance that this will affect his chance of getting in or diminish the scholarships he is able to receive.
Ponzio further stated, “I don’t see it affecting the whole of my senior year, but I feel like it’s just like an added stressor on the side.”
Another senior, Freddy Chavez, agreed, saying, “It’s our senior year, we’re trying our best to get into these colleges and I feel like it could really hurt some of our chances to get into them … It really does affect people.”
