My D22 took the SAT this morning… and despite clear College Board requirements, several students in her classroom weren’t wearing masks, including one who was frequently coughing. The proctor took his mask off to stand up in front of everyone and loudly read the instructions. My kid freaked out and couldn’t really concentrate on the test-- not a big deal in comparison to the Covid risk. It’s a four hour test in a classroom, in a place where the case load is around twice what the us average is. My D asked to move to a different classroom and the proctor told her no.
Any suggestions about how to deal with this? Most of all we’d like the coughing kid to get a Covid test. Our family has been so careful and locked down, and now we have this. We don’t know whether we should make her quarantine or what.
@rosemaryandthyme That is just awful! I would be so upset. I would definitely call the College Board and the school. It’s beyond unacceptable and they’ve put others at risk. Students without masks should have been denied admission. So sorry this happened!
I think all you can do is notify the College Board and the school. Does your state/locality have mask requirements?
The covid risk isn’t the entire story. There are many kids who have difficulty wearing a mask, much less for hours at a time. The option to take a test without a mask gives some an unfair advantage IMO (from a comfort standpoint).
I would be really upset about this if the rules were clear that all must wear a mask always. I would contact College Board but I do not know how you would go about identifying the “coughing student” The proctor should be easily identified and appropriate action taken. Its too late to do this now but I would have left the testing room and not taken the test. All this is assuming the rules were clear and that a mask is required by everyone at all times.
Talk to her doctor about the best time for her to take a COVID test(s) and be careful in your household. Is there an extra bathroom she can use, for instance? Is anyone in your household at extra risk?
Yes, the rules were clear and the kids were even required by the College Board to agree to wearing a mask before they were let in the building. We live in a state with a mask requirement. I think it was a bad proctor and no one else in charge checking in on it. I wish I’d told my kid to leave if that happened, but it just didn’t occur to me. I told her to ask to move to a different room, but that clearly wasn’t enough. It’s hard for a kid to be assertive in that sort of situation, especially since I didn’t provide her with specific guidance.
We’ve reported it to the health department and the College Board, and I guess we’ll be scheduling her for a Covid test later this week.
(I am an MD in a Covid testing practice/facility and am up to date on all guidelines). Were the desks greater than 6ft apart? if so, the risk is not overly significant. If you want to test just to be sure, the ideal time to test after possible exposure is 5-7 days after, and the PCR test is better than the rapid,. Rapid antigen tests are not designed for asymptomatic testing --technically only the PCR has (emergency use)approval for asymptomatic testing .
Oh wow. I hate this for your daughter. I would test just to be safe and to put your minds at ease. I was tested the other day (I’ve had a cough this week) and had the results in just over an hour, even though I was told it would be 24-48. So many people are cavalier about this and it’s very hard for those who are taking it seriously, especially teens. My daughter is just like yours and I don’ t know that she has any friends who are equally as cautious. She’s missing out on a lot because of her steadfast commitment to keeping her family (mostly grandparents) safe. She withdrew from her high school as a junior and is homeschooling this year because her school was like your daughter’s SAT, daily. She couldn’t concentrate on academics when the students and teachers weren’t taking precautions and people were coughing. I see social media posts from her school and teachers and I am confident that she made the right decision. I hope your family is healthy, and that she’s able to reschedule the test and take it without distraction soon.
Those kids should get accommodation of taking their tests in another room, but it is not acceptable for them to be in the same room with the kids who are wearing masks.
I would teach my kid to speak up whenever something like that happens. Did she ask the proctor to remove kids without masks? Did she say she would report the incidence to the Collegeboard and the school?
My kid’s movers refused to wear PPE when they were moving her. She fired them on the spot. It did take her a while to get her money back, but she did with my help.
She also recently had to take a law exam at a test center. She said it was 5 people/room, everyone had mask on. She wore double masks.
Sorry, but I would report the proctor immediately.
NO student should have been allowed to test without a mask. The number of people who have legitimate reasons for not wearing a mask is microscopic. Such people should identify themselves well before test day and be tested separately.
College Board has a lot to answer for in how they handle this whole situation, but if the student couldn’t make up for any reason, they need to take responsibility and ensure they have arrangements in place well before test day. That student should NOT have been allowed in.
Yes, I agree. My point is that kids who have difficulty wearing masks, but do so anyway because that is test rules, would be at a disadvantage to those who simply chose not to wear one for their own comfort (and get away with it).
The fair thing for the CB to do would be to invalidate all the scores in that room on that day on the grounds that the rules were not followed, and give everyone the option to retest in December.
Once my kid calmed down from the anxiety of the day, she said she thought she still did ok-- by which she meant that finished all sections with time to check all her answers. I wouldn’t be thrilled if they canceled her score, but I’d understand. I’m hoping they contact trace and ask kids to take Covid tests. I don’t care about the SAT but rather the risk.
She said the proctor was very nice and it may just have been that he wasn’t looking for a fight that day. She didn’t really want me to report him but his job is literally to enforce the rules.
@oldfort I had talked to my daughter about saying she was uncomfortable with unmasked people, and asking to move. Instead she just asked to move without mentioning the masks. I think the SAT is so hierarchical it is naturally very intimidating for standing up for oneself-- she’s normally plenty assertive. But I should have walked her through more scenarios. Our school district is meeting in person but she’s all virtual, so she hasn’t had much practice.
I would contact the principal of the school as well.
My kid’s school had a covid outbreak a week or so before the July ACT and students who were known to be at the spreader event showed up at the ACT. Some had been contacted by contact tracers but some of the kids had lied to the tracers about who had been at the party. Some parents were not aware that their child should have been in quarantine and sent them to the four hour test. But they all were distanced and all wore masks. We all got an email the same day from the school telling us what had happened.
I think you are likely fine. I wear a mask indoors but often have to run outside after 5-15 minutes. I’m asthmatic. And I cough a lot particularly in the Fall if the weather is damp. I don’t know what the cough was like but it’s possibly just a cold.
The kid should have told others around him/her that it was a cold or asthma. It’s not fair to let people worry. That being said, nothing you can do at this point. If it was my kid, I’d have them taking zinc and vitamin C.
In case anyone is still reading this, I thought I’d provide a followup.
We called as soon as our local Health department opened and they agreed it was enough of an exposure for her to get a Covid test, and told us to call back on Thursday to get a test on Friday. When I called on Thursday they were booked for Friday, so we had to wait until Monday. She’s still awaiting the results from her Monday test, but at this point it’s been almost two weeks since the SAT so it’s almost moot.
I heard nothing from the College Board or the neighboring Health Department in response to my complaints. It doesn’t seem they took this seriously. But she got her score today and it was a 1550 so I’m glad they didn’t cancel the scores for the room.
I still think I will call the principal before the next SAT is taken-- not to get the proctor in trouble for the past, but to strongly encourage him to enforce the rules for the future.
Let’s hope the OP meant s/he is calling the principal for the benefit of other kids taking the SAT in the future. Cuz retaking a 1550 is time better spent elsewhere.