” Hello middle and high school parents,
This is James Evans again with Rutherford County Schools, and we want to update you on the online testing plan for the week.
First, we know this is frustrating for parents and students. Our teachers and administrators share that same frustration, and we have been talking with the Tennessee Department of Education throughout the past two days as they are working toward a resolution.
The Department of Education believes today’s issues were caused by a cyberattack against the testing vendor’s servers, which is what caused schools from across the state to have issues with accessing the testing platform today.
As a school district, we have decided to pause all online testing for middle and high schools on Wednesday so we can ensure that the state has resolved the issues before our students begin testing again. We intend to resume online testing on Thursday. Several school districts are taking a similar precautionary step.
Testing will go on as scheduled for elementary schools, which are using paper and pencil tests.
But again, we are pausing online testing in middle and high schools until Thursday so that we can ensure the issues with the state testing platform are resolved.
Once again, I want to ensure our parents and students know that Rutherford County Schools is doing all it can during this situation. The issues that have occurred this week have been out of our control while the Tennessee Department of Education works to correct the online testing platform it has provided for local school districts.
Thank you again for your patience, and we will keep you informed. ” –
4/17/2018
James Evans, APR
Communications and Community Relations Coordinator
Rutherford County Schools
