A power outage forced juniors at Trenton High School to miss the ACT exam last week.

The test was scheduled for 8 a.m. March 20, and all juniors are required to take the test according to Principal Michael Doyle.

He added ACT officials selected the date. No other date is available to take the test.

Tenth graders will be taking the PLAN test the same day.

There will be no school for ninth and twelfth graders.

Doyle said the power had gone out at the high school and Boyd W. Arthurs Middle School at about 6:30 a.m., and the test was scheduled for 8 a.m. With no definitive time from DTE Energy as to when the power may return Doyle said he canceled class for the day at both schools.

Jesse L. Anderson and Richard C. Hedke elementary schools did not lose power and had a regular school day.

“We were in a jam yesterday, but the most important thing was our kids,” Doyle said. “We wanted kids to have an optimal testing environment. The number one important thing was the kids, because this is such high stakes testing.”

In order to prevent students from cheating on the make up test all 240 tests have to be sent back and new test must then be distributed.

The fear is that students could call friends at other area schools and find out what was on the test according to Doyle.

Though only juniors were required to attend school on the original day of the exam, Doyle said he and other district administrators are still working on the logistics for the other three classes on the date of the make up test.

Check back with Trenton Patch for more information on this story.