Seniors receive opportunity to take SAT at school

PHOTO: In order to protect the safety of those around them, seniors, proctors and staff will follow county and district protocols throughout the testing period.

By Emily Chapman,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

Strapping on masks to sit for the five-hour test, Davis High seniors prepare to take the Oct. 14 and 27 SATs in person, with heightened social distancing protocols.

The Davis Joint Unified School District is offering the testing times during school in order to ensure opportunities to seniors within the district.

“Because fewer people were willing to open up regional centers, they sold out incredibly quickly, so that was a frustration point for many of those students and families that felt some urgency around even getting the chance to take the SAT for the first time or retake it for better scores. So that’s why we moved to have a school day test at Davis Senior High School,” said Troy Allen, Director of Secondary Education and Leadership.

The Oct. 14 and 27 testing period are only available for seniors, which Allen feels will give prospective college students a chance to get a score to submit.

“I think we have an ethical obligation to our seniors right now that if we don’t know how SAT scores are going to be used and it’s an opportunity for you guys to take it, we need to at least explore it and we would not invite you into the schools to take the test if it wasn’t safe,” Allen said.

Senior Ashleigh Hahn signed up for the Oct. 14 SAT for scholarship consideration and placement. Hahn is worried about the possibility of students taking off their masks during the test and how many people will be placed in the classroom.

“My hope is that there will be enough proctors to have a limited number of people in each room,” Hahn said.

The DJUSD campuses will start opening their classrooms to students on Oct. 13, contingent that Davis infection rates stay within the Yolo County Health’s safety window.

Laura Juanitas, the Associate Superintendent of Student Support Services, and district staff have created mandates for classrooms in order to implement safety precautions and distancing. This includes: 10-15 students per classroom, a distance of six feet between students and staff at all times, a face covering on at all times, three or four sanitizers per classroom, and a station with extra necessities like masks, gloves and first aid. In addition, classroom doors and windows will be open to increase ventilation.