Florida Dept. Of Education Makes Exception For Local Students After Their ACT Tests Were Lost

September 5, 2019

The Florida Department of Education is working to help students whose ACT tests were lost, and will look at new rules to help any students that might find themselves in the same predicament in future years.

As first reported in an exclusive NorthEscambia.com story on August 19, ACT tests taken by Florida and Alabama students in Atmore were lost, and one local mom believed it may have cost her daughter a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship.

There were 18 students from Florida and Alabama that took the ACT test June 8 at Escambia County High School in Atmore, but those answer sheets were lost by FedEx, according to ACT. That left Florida students without those ACT scores in time to apply for the Bright Futures scholarship program. The program previously had “all or none” policy; everything is complete by the deadline or it’s no chance of a four-year scholarship.

Our story prompted the Florida Department of Escambia to extend Bright Futures application deadline for those students until December 31. The will give the students their choice of three dates to retake the ACT.

“I am definitely grateful that the state will do what is right, not just read the story,” Sen. Doug Broxson told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday afternoon. He said there may be legislation introduced in the upcoming Legislative session to address how to handle lost college prep tests in the future.

“This was a hiccup, but at least it is not a dead issue,” Broxson said.

Ed Colby, senior director of Media and Public Relations at ACT, told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday that the Atmore ACT answer sheets are still missing, last scanned by FedEx at one of their facilities. He again stressed that that Escambia County High School was in no way responsible and properly shipped the test answers back.

“FedEx continues to search for it, however, and we continue to hope that it will be located and sent to us,” Colby said.

For our original August 18 story, we spoke to a local mother that felt her daughter may have missed her chance at Bright Futures Scholarship due to the lost ACT scores.

She is extremely pleased that the Florida Department of Education will give her daughter and other students another shot at the ACT.

“I know she will prepare and do well when she takes it again,” she said.

Her daughter had failed to make the required ACT score on previous attempts, and a good score on the June 8 test was her last hope to meet the qualification deadline for the scholarship.

“We had very high hopes this would be the test with good results. She could had have a four-year college scholarship, but now that the tests are lost, how will we ever know? She could have possibly gone to college on a scholarship,” the student’s mother told NorthEscambia.com. We have independently verified that her student took the June 8 test and other aspects of her story, but she spoke for this report based upon a condition that she and her daughter remain anonymous.

“She had taken the ACT test several times and had improved each time. She was very close to earning Bright Futures,” she said. “She had set a goal and had spent as much time as she could. It was her last shot, give it all you can. She didn’t work at a job; she treated like preparing for the ACT was her job.”

ACT refunded the testing fee to each of the 18 students, and they are allowing each to take the ACT again for free.

Comments

2 Responses to “Florida Dept. Of Education Makes Exception For Local Students After Their ACT Tests Were Lost”

  1. Kat on September 9th, 2019 7:07 am

    Now she has even more time to study! Maybe that was God’s plan for her and the other students as well.

  2. Watche on September 5th, 2019 12:34 pm

    Absolutely the right decision by the State Education Department. Amazing work NorthEscambia.com to find this story, report and follow up in such a way that Florida law will be changed due to you.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News