Auburn High School was cited for the premature opening of January Regents exams and answer keys in an audit conducted by the New York State Comptroller's office.

The audit was conducted in January to see if school districts across the state are keeping Regents examinations secure and unopened in an approved safe or vault between the time districts receive and administer the exams.

Districts must not open the exam packages until the day of the tests.

A total of 41 of 235 schools were found to have breached state rules for securing the exams before scheduled test times, the comptroller's office said. Statewide exams in English, history, mathematics, science and foreign languages are given twice a year.

Jennifer Freeman, a spokeswoman for the comptroller's office, said auditors visited AHS Monday Jan. 22 and found Regents exams and answer keys for Earth Science, English and Spanish tests scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 24 had been opened.

School officials told auditors the packages had been opened to ensure the number of tests and answer keys were accurate, Freeman said.

Laura Norris, an Auburn High School assistant principal, said the exams and answer keys were opened by mistake, but that it is not a mistake that will be repeated.

Regents exams arrived in locked boxes, and schools receive keys to the boxes in a separate, earlier delivery. Auburn High School, because it has a state-approved safe to store the exams, receives exams for both the public school and the private schools within the city school district and serves as a center for nearby school districts to pick up extra tests if they failed to order enough exams.

Norris said she was inventorying AHS' exams when she realized her keys were opening lock boxes for private schools - which should not be the case.

She became concerned that along with incorrect locks on the lock boxes that the exams themselves might be mixed up.

During her inventory to make sure AHS was getting the right exams, she violated the state's rules and opened a sealed answer key bundle.

“I opened one of the bundles that contained some of the answer keys. I only did it to verify what the contents were supposed to be,” Norris said.

Statewide, 13 schools stored exam materials in unapproved locations.

A total of 14 schools - while storing exam materials in a safe or vault - were not keeping exam materials, as required, inside the lock boxes, as well. Six schools were keeping the exams inside the boxes but were not locking the boxes.

A total of 11 schools opened exam materials before the day of exams. No cheating or release of tests or answers was found, according to the comptroller's office.

The comptroller's office recommended that Regents exam security training be increased for schools; that schools be sanctioned, where appropriate, for opening sealed packages of examination materials; and a formal program be developed by state Education Department officials to regularly audit schools' storage of Regents exams.

Only 57 of the 235 schools visited by the auditors had been visited by education officials since 1992.

“Next week, hundreds of thousands of students across the state will sit down to take Regents examinations,” State Comptroller Thomas P. Napoli said in a news release.

“They've studied hard all year, and they deserve exams that will be a fair test of what they've learned.”

A total of 179 public schools and 51 private schools were visited during the audit. Union Springs Central School was visited during the audit but did not present any issues.

“I think it's good they've challenged people to follow the rules and make sure the testing is uniform and secure,” Norris said.

Staff writer Amaris Elliot-Engel can be reached at 253-5311

ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net