Gov. Rick Scott has been asked to suspend Florida's standardized testing after two days of technical problems from a software glitch forced some school districts to suspend computerized testing.

Two Democratic state senators from South Florida — Sen. Dwight Bullard and Sen. Jeff Clemens — sent a letter to Scott Tuesday, calling the technical problems "nothing less than a disaster."

The two senators asked the governor to give educators more time to work out those problems.

———————————————

Testing glitch's impact in Central Florida

Volusia County:

Computer-based testing suspended Tuesday and Wednesday.

Grades 4–7 will continue to test on paper as planned.

For grades 8–10, schools may choose to begin computerized testing Thursday or Friday. The testing window closes March 13, a week from Friday.

Marion County:

Computer-based testing suspended Tuesday for grades 8–10.

The school district notified parents via phone Monday night that there would be no computerized testing Tuesday.

Schools may choose to start computer testing Wednesday or Thursday.

Paper-based testing went as planned for other grade levels Tuesday.

Lake County:

The district plans to resume computerized testing Wednesday.

Brevard County:

The school district said testing went more smoothly Tuesday, though some login problems were still experienced. Brevard school officials said they were surveying schools to get more accurate information.

Flagler County:

No major issues were immediately reported Tuesday.

Orange County:

No major issues were immediately reported Tuesday.

Osceola County:

Schools reported encountering FSA server test administration runtime errors, a few student essays lost when trying to navigate back to the testing prompt, delays on student status within the systems, and maximum login attempt errors.

The number of students that were scheduled to test Tuesday was not immediately available.

Seminole County:

Schools reported some slow login times, but were able to move forward with computerized testing without any significant issues.

Sumter County:

The school district reported some initial login problems, but only slight delays of a few minutes.

Sumter County reported eight problems with students who had switched schools during the year and were not assigned to the proper school site.

———————————————

Volusia students react to testing trouble

As students in Volusia County got a break from testing, there were few sad faces among students at Seabreeze High School once they learned they didn't have to take any tests Tuesday or Wednesday.

Some even said they hoped the tests were suspended altogether.

"I'm pretty happy," said Seabreeze student Jake Coleman. "You know, testing is horrible. It's an awful thing. They waste money and time."

Students who take their tests on paper will continue testing as scheduled, but those who have to use a computer will likely take their tests Thursday.

"I think it's great, because the kids are getting too much tested anyway," said one grandparent of a Seabreeze High School student who did not want to give her name.

"I think everybody should still do it," said Mike Perry, a student's father.

The testing problems were not districtwide in Volusia County, but it was enough for the district to suspend computer-based the English/Language Arts writing test for grades 8 through 10 until Thursday at the earliest.

Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said a software glitch was to blame for login issues, delays and error messages. In an email to school superintendents Tuesday morning, Stewart said the issues had been fixed, but the problems ended up popping up again.

The software company worked on servers Monday night, and state leaders said software changes did show improvements to the system.

Most Central Florida districts moved forward with tests Tuesday after 36 school districts across Florida, including seven in Central Florida alone, experienced issues Monday.