Testing error threatens diplomas, scholarships for some DeKalb students

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A testing error at two local high schools has parents and students worried about this weekend's graduation and college.

The DeKalb County School District tests its seniors online to ensure their scores are back early enough to get their diplomas verified and solidify college admissions and scholarship offers.

But half of the kids got paper and pencil tests earlier this month and their scores have not been returned yet.

"My husband got the phone call, but we got a letter saying there may be an issue with their diploma," parent Daphne Thompson told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr.

That's the main issue that brought a crowd of angry and confused Lakeside High School parents together Wednesday night.

Administrators are in the middle of figuring out how half of the school's seniors ended up taking paper end of year tests instead of the electronic ones. Roughly 200 kids don't have the scores back.

The tests account for 20 percent of their final grade and graduation is Saturday.

“We're not going to punish a child. We're not going to allow them to miss this important milestone," DeKalb County Regional Superintendent Trenton Arnold said.

Arnold told parents that within 48 hours of realizing the error, the school board, Department of Education, and testing vendor expedited the scoring for students impacted.

"So it's all-hands-on-deck to make sure this situation gets rectified," Arnold said.

By the end of the meeting, parents were happy to hear administrators say all seniors will receive their diplomas this weekend and the test scores will be returned by the teachers' last work day in time for college and scholarship boards' final decisions.

“I just hope the kids are not affected in any which way and that the school can move on to reach the potential that I know it can," said Dr. Rana Chakraborty, whose child is the school’s valedictorian.

The how remains unclear.

“Yes, horrible. How does 400 students and half of them are affected by that? That's why what the principal said was the only fair thing to do," Thompson said.

Arnold called this an adult error within the school that they'll be handling.

A small number of Martin Luther King High School seniors were also impacted by the same testing error. They're holding meetings similar to Wednesday’s at Lakeside.

Cox Media Group