The rumors had been circulating by the hallways of El Paso Excessive College for days: College students had seen check papers strewn throughout busy Mesa Avenue on Oct. 28, and the pencil-filled Scantron bubbles had been a useless giveaway — these had been SAT exams, identical to those that 315 college students had taken on the faculty in Texas the day earlier than.

“I used to be driving on Mesa Avenue again from the fitness center and unexpectedly, I see like, a bunch of papers simply in all places,” mentioned Freddy Chavez, a senior at El Paso Excessive College. “I actually didn’t suppose a lot of it till just a few days later, after I heard rumors that these are literally SATs. I related the dots instantly.”

College students had been known as to a gathering throughout final interval on Nov. 2 and instructed the information: the SAT exams that they had taken on Oct. 27 had flown off a UPS truck that was transporting them. Pablo Villa, the director of Group Engagement on the El Paso Unbiased College District, mentioned it was not but clear precisely how the exams had ended up scattered on the road, describing it as “a novel state of affairs.”

UPS remains to be conducting an investigation, however was fast to come clean with its error. “Now we have apologized to the college and prolong our apologies to the scholars,” UPS mentioned in an announcement. “The motive force’s actions on this case are usually not consultant of UPS protocols and strategies, and we now have addressed this with him. Safely and reliably assembly our service commitments is UPS’s first precedence.”

Ezra Ponzio, a senior, mentioned that when college students first heard the rumors, all of them hoped that it wasn’t their exams on the highway. In response to the El Paso ISD, all however 55 of the 315 exams had been recovered. Mr. Ponzio mentioned regardless that most exams had been discovered, they had been nonetheless thought of compromised, so everybody must take the check once more.

“They had been like, ‘Hey, this isn’t our fault in anyway. It’s on the UPS, however you continue to need to retake it,’” Mr. Ponzio mentioned. “In order that was annoying.”

The El Paso Unbiased College district mentioned in an announcement that the exams had been “securely submitted to UPS” and that the college was working with the Faculty Board, which administers the exams, to treatment the difficulty. The Faculty Board mentioned in an announcement that it was working to make sure the affected college students might retest as quickly as doable.

“I’ve spoken with a number of my pals and so they’re simply very upset,” mentioned Mr. Chavez, who didn’t sit for the SATs on Oct. 27. “That is simply actually, actually unfair.”

Compounding the issue had been the upcoming deadlines for early admission into faculties. Mr. Ponzio hoped to use early to his first-choice faculty, Texas A&M College, however now his check scores gained’t be submitted in time. He mentioned he could apply utilizing the “check elective” various, however he worries that may have an effect on his probabilities of getting in.

“It sort of places a pressure on issues,” Mr. Ponzio mentioned. “I don’t see it affecting the entire of my senior yr, however I really feel prefer it’s identical to an added stressor on the aspect.”

The El Paso ISD provided waivers to affected college students to take the ACT on Dec. 10 freed from cost. Mr. Ponzio mentioned he wouldn’t be doing that, as a result of he ready for the SAT and nonetheless hopes to take the check he’s extra accustomed to.

“It’s our senior yr, we’re attempting our greatest to get into these faculties and I really feel prefer it might actually harm a few of our probabilities to get into them,” Mr. Chavez mentioned. “It actually does have an effect on individuals.”

Kirsten Noyes contributed analysis.