Latest news with #DavisSchoolDistrict
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Davis High School AP exam interrupted by fire alarm, needs to be retaken
More than 200 students at Davis High School thought they were nearly done with their Advanced Placement calculus exam Monday when a fire alarm sounded. With just 30 minutes left of the almost four-hour test, the piercing sound of the alarm evacuated the whole school and meant all 200 tests were declared invalid. 'All of us were so focused when that alarm went off. We jumped up and were all scared and looked around. The proctors in charge said, 'OK, we're going to walk outside.' We stood out there for 30 minutes, and by the time we came in, the test was done, and they said, 'Well, it was invalidated,'' Davis senior Luke Cadwallader said. At first, the seniors were too stunned to react. They didn't understand what had just happened. 'After that, we were all very frustrated. I was very mad. A couple of people started crying. It was just like, 'What do you do?'' he said. The culprit was a balloon. 'The cause of the alarm was due to a balloon that interfered with the connection of a beam detector,' Chris Williams, a Davis School District spokesman, said. He did not elaborate on where the balloon came from. The electronic systems are 'pretty sensitive,' Williams said. But according to state law, everyone must be evacuated when a fire alarm goes off. The high school contacted the Advanced Placement College Board to determine makeup testing. Students were told they could turn their tests in at whatever completion they had reached or retake them on one of two makeup days. The first makeup day is May 22 at noon, which happens to be during the school's graduation ceremony, or on May 28th. 'What hurt, that decision, is everyone was going to be out of town for the 28th. Everyone has their senior trip or family vacations, and who wants to take it during graduation?' he said. Out of the 205 students taking the exam, 165 were seniors. Now, they must all choose between risking a lower score, missing graduation or continuing to study for a test after graduation and potentially missing summer activities. The school said it would try to plan a special ceremony for any graduating students who choose to retake the test that day, but disappointment is prevalent. Most people Luke has talked to have decided they will just risk it and submit what they have finished. 'With 10% to 15% of the test left, and that being a pretty weighty portion of this test, I decided I'm not gonna risk it. I'm going to just take it on the 28th. Yes, I'm going to have to keep studying math, but maybe it's a blessing in a way that I have more time to study,' Luke said. The calculus exam was Luke's fourth and final AP test. 'The funny part, though, was this was my fourth one .... and it's unfortunate. It was the last one, the final one. Thought I'd be free, but apparently not,' he joked.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DOJ ‘satisfied' with Davis School District's response to racial harassment allegations
FARMINGTON, Utah () — The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly 'satisfied' with the Davis School District after the two over allegations of racial harassment and discrimination. Davis School District officials said they had received a letter from the DOJ late last week. That letter reportedly said the department was going to no longer monitor Davis School District, recognizing the school district for its 'urgent and sustained implementation of the anti-discrimination remedies.' The Davis School District, which , entered the agreement after revealed there were hundreds of documented uses of the N-word, multiple racial epithets, derogatory racial comments, and physical assaults targeting students at several schools. The DOJ also found black students were disciplined more harshly than white students and weren't afforded the same opportunities given to white students. The settlement agreement required the Davis School District to adopt a 'strategic improvement plan' designed to remove harassment and discrimination within its schools. The improvement plan included creating an Office of Equal Opportunity, revamping its policies and procedures, implementing a vigorous staff training program, and creating a complaint management system and procedure, among others. In their assessment of the school district, the Department of Justice indicated the school district had implemented 'various mechanisms' that would ensure anti-discrimination safeguards will continue to be effective even after the DOJ stops monitoring the agreement's progress. Dr. Dan Lanford, the Davis School District Superintendent said the school district still has a long journey ahead of it to achieve the culture and climate it seeks for all its students but district officials are encouraged by the positive feedback they have heard so far. 'We have confidence that the systems we have built will ensure our accountability in upholding our students' constitutional rights,' said Lanford. 'We hope to be a model of what is possible when earnest leaders and communities come together to improve the lives of children.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
