SAT retake: 55 students may have to retake their SATs after they flew off a truck

Taking the SATs is a stressful, anxiety-inspiring rite of passage for many high school students. But over 50 students at an El Paso high school may have to take the tests again – after their tests flew out of the UPS truck transporting them and were lost or destroyed.

The El Paso Independent School District told CNN that it is currently working with the College Board, which administers the SATs, to “determine a remedy” for the students whose tests were lost.

The SAT is a standardized entrance exam used as metric for applying to colleges across the United States. A total of 1.7 million students in the high school class of 2022 took the SAT at least once, according to the College Board.

The El Paso Independent School District said that the loss affected students who took the test on October 27 on campus. Staff were able to recover all but 55 of the tests.

Students whose tests were lost will be able to take the ACT, another popular standardized exam, on December 10 at no cost, according to the school district.

UPS stated that it had apologized to the school and the students in a statement shared with CNN.

“Our employees are working to recover as many tests as possible, and we will work with the school to resolve the situation,” said the company in the statement. “The driver’s actions in this case are not representative of UPS protocols and methods, and we are addressing this with him.”

“Safely meeting our service commitments is UPS’s first priority.”

One student told CNN affiliate KFOX that the loss meant he was unable to apply for Texas A&M University early, as he had intended.

“UPS, just try your best to make it right with us,” Ezra Ponzio, a senior at El Paso High School, told KFOX. “I was mostly looking at A&M, so the early deadline is already shot. Hopefully, the SAT score can come in time for the actual deadline in January, but here’s hoping.”