Over 50 students at a high school in the United States may have to retake the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) after their test papers flew out of a United Parcel Service truck while being transported for checking.
The SAT exams that El Paso High School students took on October 27 were lost in transit after being submitted to UPS, the school district confirmed in a statement to The Washington Post on Saturday. El Paso Independent School District staffers recovered all but 55 of the answer documents, spokesperson Liza Rodriguez said in a statement, adding that the district was working with the College Board to "determine a remedy" for students who have been affected.
Freddy Chavez, a senior at El Paso High School, told The New York Times, "I was driving on Mesa Street back from the gym, and all of a sudden, I see like, a bunch of papers just everywhere. I really didn't think much of it until a few days later, when I heard rumours that those were actually SATs. I connected the dots right away."
According to The New York Times, students were called to a meeting during last period on Wednesday and told the news: the SAT tests they had taken on October 27 would not be scored because they had flown off a UPS truck that was transporting them. Instead of using their results to finalise their college applications, the students would instead have to take the often-harrowing test again.
The United Parcel Service is still investigating, but it was quick to admit its mistake.
"We have apologized to the school and extend our apologies to the students," UPS said in a statement.
"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 UPS's first priority."
