Taking the SAT is one of the most important tasks for college-bound students to complete. However, due to high rates of COVID-19 in Clark County, Camas High School has not been able to provide the SAT for students this year. The test was scheduled for certain dates, but all opportunities to take it have been canceled.
According to Owen Sanford, Camas High School Associate Principal, the original plan was to have around one hundred students take the SAT in a designated testing building.
“With the COVID regulations, it became really daunting. With a hundred and twenty students it was a really tough sell to make it happen,” Sanford said.
Once Covid struck, the usual plan had to be scrapped. The ACTs were meant to be continued as planned, due to the smaller number of students taking them, until both tests were canceled in the fall.
Sanford said, “As Covid rates continued to rise, we didn’t feel it responsible to offer the test.”
The PSAT date has been moved to early 2021, but neither test has any decided date. Many students and parents alike were concerned about the news.
“We heard from several parents and students,” said Sanford, “there were a few people who were frustrated, but we just explained the situation to them.”
CHS senior Mark Robinson shared his feelings about the test cancellation.
“I felt sort of upset and unmotivated because I studied for it and then it got canceled. So when the new date came up, I didn’t really want to study,” he said, “I wish I had taken the test but luckily colleges accommodated so I’m not too mad,” he said.
Another CHS Senior Noah Frazier said that the test cancellation has not had much of an effect on his college application process.
“Most colleges seem to be pretty understanding of what’s going on and aren’t requiring it this year, so it hasn’t affected me too much,” he said.
Though it is a possibility that neither the SAT nor the ACT will be able held at CHS, Sanford hopes it will not be the case.
But in the worst-case scenario, there are other options for students who need to take the tests. Other testing centers in the Pacific Northwest are offering the SAT, and the College Board website has a page where testing centers are listed. However, it is not updated in real-time.
Sanford said, “A student that tried to go take the SAT in Idaho, got there, and the test was canceled. They were never told about it. That’s not what I wanted [with CHS] at all.”
He added, “We’re bringing small groups of students into the building. If we can pull it off now, and contact tracing doesn’t lead back to schools, then we can continue with the SATs in small groups.”
