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ACT testing disruptions lead to vouchers for affected students; district offers retake options
Summary
The district reported statewide ACT site outages affected local test sessions; ACT provided retake vouchers to students impacted by technical failures, and the district is working through logistics and transportation barriers to offer retakes.
District officials reported that statewide technical issues with the ACT disrupted local test sessions and that ACT issued vouchers for affected students to retake the exam.
According to the director’s report, the district experienced repeated problems during the ACT administration: a site crash that delayed students by about 45 minutes on the first day, additional outages affecting small groups the second day, and a final-day issue when test access codes initially failed. District staff spent substantial time on the phone with ACT to seek remedies. The administration told the board that ACT later provided vouchers to students affected by those disruptions, allowing a free retake; the vouchers were not name-specific, and the district said it would offer any unused vouchers to students who desire a free retake.
The administration warned of transportation and staffing barriers for students who would need to travel to other testing locations; the district said it could not absorb additional staff pay for off-site retake administrations without further planning. School officials emphasized the testing outages were caused by ACT's systems and apologized for the stress on students, saying the district's technology and preparation were not at fault. The board was told district staff would distribute remaining vouchers and attempt to accommodate students who want a retake when feasible.
No formal action or additional funding was recorded in the meeting to cover off-site proctoring or staff overtime for retake administrations; the administration described logistics and indicated it would follow up with families and the board as needed.
