Since the College Board released ACT scores are at the lowest in 30 years, students and teachers share their concerns over this new data.

Senior Cole Walker said he blames the pandemic on the low ACT scores, and he said he believes students did not have the chance to properly learn material when given the test.

“The students that took the test could’ve been affected by the online learning and not doing their work, so when a given the test it all seemed unknown, ” Walker said. “I was a sophomore when COVID happened, and it did not really affect me because I would actually do my work, so I didn’t have any problems.”

As with Walker, senior Tyler Betts said he believes it is the lack of hard work.

“People don’t care about school anymore,” Betts said. “Some don’t even want to go to college. I have a mom that doesn’t play about school, and I really appreciate her a lot because she has taught me to work hard for what I want.”

English teacher McKane Rogers said he believes the months students took off school amid the pandemic is the biggest reason for these scores.

“My thoughts are that the couple of COVID years that happened and the fact that our academic focus has shifted a little,” Rogers said. “I think our school has put an emphasis on college readiness, so if they see the scores are still dropping, there will definitely be change.”