The South Colonie Central School District is working on coming up with a solution for the over 40 Advanced Placement exams that have been reported missing by the New Jersey based independent testing company that grades them according to Board of Education President Brian Casey.
According to Sheila Jamison, a representative from the College Board, Educational Testing Services had discovered that 29 biology and 15 physics answer sheets had gone missing.
As of July 27, searches by the school and ETS have not recovered the missing materials and an investigation by both parties is ongoing, Jamison said in a written statement.
`ETS has reached out to the affected students to offer the options of either retaking the exam free of charge, or cancelling their exams and receiving refunds.`
When asked whether this situation has happened often, Jamison answered, `It’s very rare.`
In speaking with Superintendent of Schools Jonathan Buhner, Casey said the district is considering bringing a few teachers back to conduct a review for the students who would be offered the option of retaking the exams.
Buhner was not immediately available for comment.
Casey said the district is not at fault in this situation, and that the district has documented proof that it had sent all of the testing materials to ETS in New Jersey. ETS notified the district last week that they could not locate parts of the materials.
While Casey said the district is not at fault in this situation, the district may be forced to absorb some of the costs of bringing the teachers in to conduct a review for the students.
Still, Casey said the district owes it to the students to give them a fair chance to do well on these tests and have the scores count toward college credits, which is what they are intended for.
`We owe it to them,` he said. `As a district, I believe we owe it to them.`
The exams usually cost about $86 to take, however, those students who wish to retake the exams will take them free of charge. When asked what happens if the students do not score as high the second time as they did the first, Casey said he does not know, but that he is confident that the students are bright and that if they did well the first time, they will do well the second time.
For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com, or read the Wednesday, August 5 edition of the Colonie Spotlight.
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