Shipping problem, Strawberry Festival delay some FCAT tests

Not every Hillsborough County student has FCATs today.

Plant City schools get a one-day reprieve from the reading, math and science portions of the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test because of the Strawberry Festival.

Twenty-nine schools in this rural community were off Monday for the 75th annual festival, where many of the students participated in the parade, agricultural exhibits and other events.

For them, testing will begin Wednesday, said Hillsborough County Public Schools spokeswoman Linda Cobbe, who noted that the festival has trumped FCATs before.

Two additional schools, Bryan Elementary and Tomlin Middle, won't start testing until March 16 because of their proximity to the location of the 11-day festival, where traffic can be a nightmare for school buses, parents and students, Cobbe said.

Also, the late arrival of some seventh-grade test materials has delayed FCATs for an additional 10 middle schools countywide, Cobbe said.

Parents were notified of schedule changes Friday through ParentLink, the district's automated telephone notification system. Hillsborough has 288 public schools, including traditional, charter, alternative, adult, exceptional and career centers.

School officials say they don't expect cheating from tests slipping into the hands of those taking them later. The test comes in 40 different forms at each grade level, Cobbe said, and questions are long, making memorization difficult.

"A student would have to write out the entire question, which wouldn't be possible because they don't have anything to write on," Cobbe said.

Students also aren't allowed to have personal electronic devices such as cell phones with cameras while they are testing, she said.

The following schools will begin FCATs on Wednesday:

•Elementary - Bailey, Buckhorn, Burney, Cork, Dover, Jackson, Knights, Lincoln, Nelson, Pinecrest, Robinson ES, Springhead, Trapnell, Valrico, Walden Lake and Wilson ES

•Middle - Marshall, Mulrennan, Turkey Creek, Bartels, Benito, Buchanan, Ferrell, Giunta, Greco, Rodgers, Shields and Williams

•High School - Durant, Plant City and Strawberry Crest

•Alternative - Simmons Career Center and Simmons ESE Center

•Charter Schools - Advantage Academy, Advantage Middle, Shiloh Elementary, Shiloh Middle and Trinity Charter

•Adult - Plant City