An official at the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board confirms a computer problem prevented some Grade 10 students from writing the online literacy test.
At the Greater Essex County District School Board, Administrative Assistant in the Director's Office Michelle Marcuz told BlackburnNews.com the glitch affected testing at all public high schools and no students were able to access the test online. She says the Education Quality and Accountability Office hasn't said what caused the system to crash.
The public board has cancelled all tests for the day and is now waiting to hear more from the EQAO before deciding its next steps.
Stephen Fields with the Catholic board says some students were able to write the test in periods one and two this morning, but many more could not.
He says they'll try again this afternoon in periods three and four, but even if the problem persists, the students do have the opportunity to take the test in March.
In March, the test will be available in both paper and online formats, so even if the computer system crashes, students will have a hardcopy version to fall back on.
Fields says it's not just a problem in Windsor-Essex, but across Ontario.