Thousands of students booted from STAAR testing server

HOUSTON – Thousands of students across at several Houston-area school districts were unable to complete their online STAAR testing Tuesday because they were booted from the server.

According to a note sent home to parents of Clear Creek Independent School District students, the connectivity issues lasted for more than an hour and once students were knocked offline, they were not allowed to log back into the test.

The 590 students were in the third through eighth grades, according to the note.

The Houston Independent School District, Goose Creek Independent School District, Spring Independent School District, Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, Katy Independent School District and Aldine Independent School District also reported problems.

Aldine ISD spokesperson Mike Keeney said approximately 2,500 students in grades third through eighth were impacted from 9:30 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. when its online platform went down.

DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, said the online platform for the test experienced intermittent connectivity issues beginning at about 9:30 a.m. She said the system reset at 11:15 a.m.

Culbertson said students who experienced problems with testing should have had enough time to finish the test Tuesday. She said students who were unable to complete the test can continue it later this week.


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