SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Seminole County School leaders plan to waive the use of the Florida Standards Assessments test for students next year, and instead will be using other nationally valid tests, such as the PSAT and SAT.
"We know that our community is frustrated, our teachers are frustrated, our students are very disappointed, and so we wanted to show our support for them, but we don't want to point any fingers, we want to come up with a solution," Seminole County School Board Chairman Tina Calderone said.
Computer problems delayed or canceled the FSAs on Monday.
Poll: Which test would you rather see your children take?
Document: Issues with first week of FSA testing
Document: Issues with second week of FSA testing
"We just had the teachers and students sitting and sitting and sitting," Calderone said. "Our teachers and students have prepared so much to take that test on Monday morning, and the server for the State of Florida was not working."
At Tuesday night's Seminole County School Board meeting, members directed the superintendent to have staff draft language for a waiver that was sent to the Florida Department of Education, asking to use other nationally valid tests, which are 98 percent in line with Common Core, as opposed to the FSA AIR exams, which have been unproven and untested as valid.
A representative of Seminole County Public Schools said the waiver asks that the policy change go into effect next year, if approved, and said staff members will ask the board for approval of a draft before it is submitted to the state.
"Board members simply feel that with all the computer problems we've been having with the FSA AIR tests, that it's not fair to students and it's not a test that that has been proven valid.
"Tests such as PSAT, SAT, etc., on the other hand, are tests already in existence that have been validated, are in line with Common Core, and could help school districts measure themselves against other districts across the country."
State statute still requires districts to administer the FSA, or they could lose funding.
"We are just trying to share the knowledge that we gather during the testing period with our community, with our state officials, so they can make the best decisions for our children and our teachers in the future," Calderone said.
Dozens of parents offered support on social media after the meeting.
One woman wrote, "Thank you for standing up; for standing up for our kids, teachers and support staff."
Parents on Facebook said the FSA was wasting valuable classroom time.
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