North Sound News

40 ACT exams lost in mail; free tests being offered

Forty high school students are scrambling after the college entrance exams they took in June never arrived at ACT's Iowa headquarters.  They're missing.

This is disturbing news for those students and their families, especially since those exams were taken two months ago.

The people at ACT say the test coordinator did their job, sent the tests through FedEx.

But the tests never arrived.

Federal Express promises to "do whatever it takes to satisfy our customers."  But that promise appears to be broken for 40 students and their parents in western Washington.

Scroll down to continue reading

More news from KIRO 7

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP 

"I suspected something was going on a few weeks ago when her score didn't come back," said Brad Greenfield.

His daughter attends Mukilteo's Kamiak High School. Like juniors around the country, she took the college entrance exam. She was waiting for the test results when her father began pressing ACT for answers.

"They finally admitted that they never received tests from my daughter," Greenfield said. "They wouldn't tell me how many more students. But we've since found out it was 40."

The students sweated through more than three hours of testing at Mariner High School in Everett in June.

ACT officials say tracking shows the test coordinator delivered the tests to FedEx.  The package was bound for Iowa City.  But it never made it.

"Pretty disappointed," said Greenfield. "I think more than anything disappointed for my daughter.  All her hard work up to taking that test was null and void."

It happened earlier this year at a North Carolina high school, where 440 ACT exams disappeared.

The company is offering students another crack at the test for free.  That means, of course, that Greenfield's daughter will have to take the test again.

He was asked how she's feeling about it.

"Well, stressed out again," he said. "Because she basically has no score to go off of. So it's like she's starting from ground, ground level again."

For their part, ACT officials say they are continuing to work with FedEx to find the missing tests.

They deeply regret this unfortunate situation.

Meanwhile, the tests will be given again next month at Everett Community College.