Columbia Public Schools cancelled ACT testing Saturday, Dec. 14, due to inclement weather. Rock Bridge High School collaborated with Hickman High School to make the decision because both schools offered the test on Saturday, site supervisor Rachel Reed said.

HHS administrator Doug Mirts helped to decide to cancel the test.

“The weather conditions made the parking lots and sidewalks dangerous to bring people into our buildings,” Mirts said. “I did not feel it was a good idea to host the ACT on this particular day when a make-up date could be scheduled.”

The test is rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 11.

According to actstudent.org, students who originally registered for the December 2013 test date will be notified of the new date ,and if students are unable to attend the new date they may choose to reschedule their test for a future scheduled test.

If students contact an ACT Customer Service Representative, the site said, students will not be charged; however, if students choose to reschedule their tests online, they will be charged the full basic fee of registration with the additional Test Date Change fee and only the full basic fee will refunded.

The rescheduled test, Reed said, will be at RBHS and “the date should be the only difference as far as test administration goes.”

For some students, the date of the test is an important factor. Senior Raymond Majors believes  this cancellation puts off his college planning even more.

“I want to get [my score] up a point or two because there’s a program at Maryville University that I’m really interested in, but I’m a point short of being accepted and the school has offered me a lot of great opportunities I can’t let go of,” Majors said. “They called me and told me that their acceptance ACT score to get into the school is different from the program I’m interested in, so they told me to send my next ACT score in. So I feel like they’re just waiting and waiting.”

Majors saw cancellations across Missouri on Friday but he saw no cancellations on the television and was surprised to see the news on Twitter.

“I was so astounded that all my peers were happy it was cancelled,” Majors said. “They were all tweeting that they were happy they got to go back to sleep, but when we make it up they’re just going to have to get up at six in the morning again.”

While the cancellation relieved junior Emily Vu’s nerves, she was also disappointed to hear the news. For Vu, first and second semester are packed with extra curricular activities and this was the only opportunity to take the test and see her initial score. Before ACT announced the new date, Vu worried that the date would coincide with band activities; as it so happens, Jan. 11 is on the same day as the the Missouri State Band performance.

“There are always difficulties when rescheduling an event,” Mirts said. “Rescheduling may not work for everyone involved and those individuals may have to work out an alternate date if the reschedule does not work with them.”
By Emily Franke
Were you affected by the cancellation?