15-05-2025
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.
