The FSA, which replaced the FCAT this year, has been plagued with problems. Monday, students across the state waited for hours just to log on to take the test.
At its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night, the Seminole County School Board decided to ask the state of Florida for a waiver to forego using the FSA next school year.
Delmarie Willock said all the testing has put her behind.
“It’s very difficult to catch up with different classes because I have multiple tests to make up, many pages of homework to do, and it really does mess up everyone’s schedule,” said Willock, a student at Seminole High School.
“We agree with accountability 100 percent, but we wanted to come up with a better solution,” said School Board Chair Tina Calderone.
In place of the FSA, the school board suggests using tests such as the ACT or SAT. Those tests are still taken using paper and pencil, which eliminate the risk of any computer glitches or delays.
“And the results of these tests you can actually compare with private schools, and schools across the country,” said Calderone.
Hundreds of parents from across the school district are now flooding social media to thank school board members for taking action.
Seminole County School Board members considered ending FSA testing for the rest of this year, but they decided that was not worth the risk of getting penalized by the state and losing millions of dollars in funding.
School administrators said they must carry out the rest of FSA testing for this year. With less than five weeks left of school, they are crossing their fingers in hopes they can avoid anymore costly delays.
Despite her daughter’s frustration at school, Kirby Willock said everyone should exercise more patience.
“All of these thousands of kids signing in to take a test at the same time, it’s bound to create a problem. So they really have to give it some time,” said Willock.