Broward, Dade, Palm Beach County To Resume FSA Testing Thursday
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- After a calamitous day one, followed by two days of throwing up their hands, South Florida school districts - Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach – will hold their breaths and try again tomorrow to boot up a standardized testing system that bombed out of the gates.
The tests had been postponed due to technical issues.
On Wednesday, the Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) said in a written statement, "The Florida Department of Education has assured school districts that the issues which prompted this week's suspension of computer-based testing, have been resolved. BCPS will continue to monitor our students' experiences accessing the state's computer-based testing platform."
While districts will try again, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, said "My concern level remains high," as he addressed the school board Wednesday.
Click here to watch Gary Nelson's report.
The problems were first encountered on Monday with some schools not able to log into the online system. Others who were able to access the system found that it worked so slowly that it was very difficult to proceed.
Critics wanted the tests scrapped all together.
"This just adds to our argument that this should be a test run, and our children should not be punished for what has occurred in Tallahassee this year," said Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado.
In Tallahassee Wednesday, state Education Commissioner Pam Stewart, blamed the earlier failures on a software glitch.
"We have been focused on resolving the issue," Stewart told the panel. She told the senators everything was working on Wednesday at "100%."
But moments after Stewart said that, Carvalho made this announcement in Miami:
"There are problems again in at least some districts across the street," Carvalho said. "In fact, Lee County has just canceled testing because of the same types of problems."
A Republican state senator from Hialeah called for the state's $220 million testing contractor, AIR, to be held accountable.
"It's a burden we need to put on the vendor that's providing the test, to make sure that there are no hiccups, Rep. Manny Diaz said. "And if they can't get the job done, we need to find one that can."
Miami-Dade School's boss will testify before a Senate education committee on Thursday.
"I'm going to be urging our legislators to ensure that the Department of Education does all that OTC can to rectify this issue."
There is a growing clamor among many that the only real remedy is an academic mulligan, a do-over, with this year's test tossed out. Among many reasons: Kids who took some or most of the test before it crashed have an advantage now, knowing the questions when they go back to take the test again.
