SCHUMER CALLS ON UPS TO PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS TO TRACK DOWN LOST STARPOINT HIGH SCHOOL AP EXAMS; AFTER LOSING OVER 100 STARPOINT STUDENT AP EXAMS, SENATOR CALLS ON UPS TO FIND THE TESTS, GET STUDENTS THE CREDIT THEY DESERVE OR PAY UP

Starpoint High School Students Spent Whole Year During Pandemic Preparing For Challenging AP Exams, Only For UPS To Lose The Exams; Without Scores, Students Could Miss Out On Expensive College Credits, Key Boost for College Admissions

Schumer Says UPS Must Track Down The Exams, Or Reimburse Students For Testing Fee And College Credit

Schumer To UPS: It’s “Multiple Choice” – Find The Tests Or Refund The Students  

After receiving a letter from Starpoint High School students in Lockport, NY, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today called directly upon United Parcel Service (UPS) CEO, Carol B. Tomé, to use any and all means necessary to locate over 100 lost AP exams taken by Starpoint students.

“This one is multiple choice— UPS can find the exams or refund the students, plain and simple,” said Senator Schumer. “The UPS needs to work as hard at finding these lost exams as the Starpoint students that worked endless and stressful hours in the midst of a pandemic preparing for them. These hard-working students learned the intricacies of the American revolution, the Civil War, the struggle for civil rights and so much more and they do not deserve the indignity of a half-baked effort to find the missing exams. Instead, UPS must pull out all the stops, find the missing box of exams and honor their work with a fair result.”

Senator Schumer’s letter to UPS CEO Tomé appears below:

Dear Ms. Tomé,

I write to bring further attention to a troubling case of missing United Parcel Service (UPS) mail packages, in this case missing Advanced Placement (AP) History and AP Literature exam reports, in Lockport, NY. And to urge the UPS to dedicate all time and resources needed to rectify this situation for aggrieved and understandably anxious Starpoint High School students and their parents. Testing materials being sent to the College Board for scoring, each with the potential of carrying expensive, valuable, and deserved college credits and potentially critical to the students’ college application success, have been lost somewhere at a UPS facility in New Jersey. The UPS must take immediate steps to rectify this situation.

More than 100 examinations taken by students at Starpoint High School, many graduating seniors who dutifully braved pandemic restrictions and spent an entire academic year in preparation, are, at present, nowhere to be found. It is my understanding that, following both the AP United States History and AP English Literature examinations, the proctors and school officials followed all of the instructions laid out by the College Board and sent the exams through UPS to be scored. Now, with no materials to grade, the students who spent countless hours studying for this major exam find themselves with no scores, lacking a key potential enhancement for college acceptance, and no potential for college credit.

Therefore, I am requesting that UPS take any and all measures necessary to track down these exams, which the College Board has stated will be scored upon receipt. Furthermore, if the tests are not found and the scores are not able to be allocated, UPS should reimburse each impacted student for both the testing costs and any demonstrable loss of college credits.

The time and effort required to prepare and sit for an Advanced Placement exam is substantial. Students take on considerable detailed and nuanced learning in the hopes of securing a score that will enhance their ability to achieve admissions to colleges of choice, as well as the possibility of earning college credit – and the possibility that one would work hard to prepare and then be denied a result due to a mistake like this is both unjust and painful. To punish good students because of logistical error at UPS would be unfair and it is my hope that focused work by UPS can rectify the situation. Please let me know how UPS is working with students, their parents and guardians and the school to address this situation. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,  

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