Due to “a materials distribution error” that lead to the compromise of the PSAT/NMSQT examination, Principal Daniel Holtzman has rescheduled this standardized test from Saturday, Oct. 14 to the alternate test date, Wednesday, Oct. 25. Juniors and sophomores taking the exam were informed about this change at a mandatory assembly that took place at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11. They were emailed by Assistant Principal, Mr. Levine the day before and were told to bring their completed registration packets to the meeting, which should have included the 2017-2018 PSAT Student Test Guide, a Practice Test, and the student’s admission ticket. In actuality, several students possessed the actual PSAT examination packet instead, and were told at the morning assembly to hand over the compromised test packets.

According to Mr. Holtzman, the Student Guides and the PSAT exam booklets were supposed to arrive in separate packages of 25 each; however, due to an error, the Student Guides and the exam booklets were combined, causing the PSAT examination to be distributed to certain students before the exam date of Oct. 14.

Somehow, Guidance knew how many actual PSAT test packets were wrongly given to the students. At the assembly, the students that received the actual test were told by Mr. Holtzman and staff to return their booklets; however, one test booklet was not returned, and administration inferred that one of the students who forgot to bring their Student Guides or examination packets to the assembly left the missing test booklet at home. All students who forgot to bring in their packets were told to find out if they held the last test booklet, and to return it to Guidance or Administration as soon as possible.

This unprecedented situation has great potential to disorient normal school functions. Now that the new PSAT date is on a Wednesday, students have to decide if they want to miss at least four periods of classes, or take the exam at 8 a.m. With many juniors unwilling to skip class, the expected number of test takers is sure to decrease. On a wider scale, the potential impact of this situation can be dire. The education districts of New York are all excellent and very competitive. As a result, New York State has a relatively high cut-off score to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship every year . Last year, that cut-off score was 1470 out of a total of 1520. If a compromised PSAT examination packet were to be distributed outside of Great Neck North, either on the web or physically, this cut-off score, which is determined relative to the performance of all test takers, can be greatly affected. The score can be unethically raised, robbing many students out of the opportunity to qualify for the scholarship.

It seems as if Great Neck South High is following through with the initial testing date, but administration has not confirmed this. For now, the rescheduling of the PSAT has negatively impacted the student body of Great Neck North High the most.