The letter emailed to the ACT this weekend was accompanied by a photo of a car parked outside a testing center with a one-page notice taped to the back-seat window.
"ACT TEST 9-12-2020 CANCELLED DUE TO POOR AIR QUALITY," the notice stated.
An outraged and angry letter writer wrote, "Just look at the attached image from your Reno location this morning! This is how you let people know a test has been canceled??? Aside from the obvious question about air quality and why that would possibly impact kids taking tests inside a classroom, don't you realize that due to past cancellations, parents and kids are traveling long distances to try and take these exams? Many are flying in from other states, as you no doubt understand. How, knowing this, can you possibly keep cancelling tests with no notification until the morning of? And with some cockamamie sign on the window of a car? I'd like to write a lot worse things, with all the curse words that are racing through my thoughts, but very simply: you should be ashamed of yourselves. Given all your no-notice failings over the last 6 months, I'm sure you aren't. But you should be," said the letter, which was also sent to Inside Higher Ed.
This weekend was the first test administration since the ACT vowed to improve in light of what happened at the July 20 administration of the ACT. That day, 1,400 students showed up to take the ACT and found that their testing centers -- typically high schools -- were closed. The test was taken by 88,000 students.
ACT is not releasing numbers of canceled tests. Tarah DeSousa, a spokeswoman for ACT, said that the organization helps those whose tests have been canceled register for another test. ACT does publish a list of testing centers that have canceled. The current list has more than 500 names of testing centers, mostly high schools. ACT has said that it hopes to have more tests given in hotels or conference centers to avoid the closures.
Late Monday, ACT released a statement about the test: "Our pop-up testing events and Sunday testing allowed us to expand testing capacity this weekend, with CDC guidelines for social distancing in place, and new requirements for test-takers to wear face coverings. We did experience some last-minute test cancellations with test centers and school sites closing due to COVID-19, and West coast wildfires and poor air quality. However, these were not as significant as compared to summer test center closures. As we continue to navigate capacity limitations and site closures up until test day, we know that some students will be displaced. We are working to register students who were displaced this weekend due to site capacity limitations, COVID-19 closures, and the wildfires, for the upcoming national test date on Saturday, September 19 or one of our four test dates in October."
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