As many of you know, last year, the Rhode Island Department of Education announced that the SAT will now be utilized as the State Assessment for Rhode Island high school students. As a district, we are responsible for hosting the SAT School Day for grade 11 students on a specific date chosen by RIDE.
For the 2019 – 2020 school year, the date of March 30th was chosen at the end of last school year and was later adjusted by RIDE to March 25th. This year, March 25th lands on a Wednesday. As many of you know, the Cumberland School District has early release days on Wednesdays allowing for a 5 hour and 40 minute school day for high school students. In reviewing the time frame for students testing with “Standard Time” the official testing time is approximately 3 hours and 50 minutes (not including material distribution, directions for testing, breaks between each section, material collection, student release and student lunch). With the additional time needed to complete all aspects of the assessment there will not be enough time in the day to complete the assessment.
We have a responsibility to ensure that all students scheduled to participate in the SAT have the required amount of time to complete the assessment. As a result, we need to change the schedule on Wednesday, March 25th to a regularly scheduled school day. Therefore, there will be no early release on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. All of the grade levels are impacted because the bus runs are coordinated based on the school start and end times at each level (high, middle and elementary). The Durham Bus Company has been informed of the necessary change and will conduct pick up and drop off accordingly.
As a district, we understand that this may disrupt your schedule and wanted to share this information with you as soon as possible. We appreciate your support during this time.