Utah cancels $44 million contract with school test company

Utah’s top education officials have canceled a contract with a Minnesota-based standardized testing company amid a flurry of technological glitches during the first year of use.

The Utah State Board of Education voted early Friday morning just after midnight to rescind a 10-year, $44-million contract it signed last year with Questar Assessment Inc.

Board chairman Mark Huntsman says in a news release that members didn’t want to risk more interruptions in testing and that Questar didn’t meet contractual obligations.

A phone message and email sent to Questar spokesman Jeff Peterson were not immediately returned. The company is based in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

The validity and accuracy of this year’s tests for 3rd-8th graders is uncertain.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports Questar has had problems in the other states. The Utah board says Questar assured the state those issues had been resolved.