New York cancels its statewide history exam over a question it said could 'compound student trauma' caused by Buffalo shooting

• The New York State Education Department canceled a new standardized exam over the Buffalo shooting.
• A question on the test could "compound student trauma" caused by the fatal shooting, officials said.

The New York State Education Department has canceled a statewide standardized history exam over a question on the test that it says had the "potential to compound student trauma" caused by the recent deadly mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store.

In a Tuesday letter to colleagues, State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa explained the reasoning behind the cancellation of the Regents examination in US history and government — which was scheduled to be held for the first time on June 1.

Rosa wrote that in the "wake of the heinous mass shooting in Buffalo," content experts from the state's Education Department in partnership with state educators reviewed all of the June 2022 Regents exams and "determined that there is content" on the history test "that has the potential to compound student trauma caused by the recent violence in Buffalo."

"While developed by NYS-certified social studies teachers more than two years ago and field-tested to confirm that the exam's content is educationally sound, the tragedy in Buffalo has created an unexpected and unintended context for the planned assessment," Rosa wrote in the letter, which was posted online by the state's Department of Education.

Rosa said it was "not possible to produce a test with different content or to make modifications to the developed assessment in the short time period before the administration date."

"To appropriately support our students and their well-being, the Department is canceling the administration of the Regents Examination in United States History and Government (Framework) for June 2022," Rosa wrote.

In a statement to Insider, Emily DeSantis, a spokesperson for the state Education Department, repeated some of Rosa's remarks from the letter and suggested that a single question on the history exam caused the department to cancel the test.

"In the wake of the Buffalo tragedy, it is not appropriate to administer the exam with a question that could compound the grief and hardship faced by our school communities," DeSantis said.

The state Department of Education confirmed that one question led to the cancellation of the test. The agency would not provide details to Insider on what the question on the history exam entailed and instead directed Insider to submit a Freedom of Information Law request to the department.

Rosa said in the letter to colleagues that the Department of Education would soon ask the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York "to approve a graduation exemption" for students scheduled to take the history exam next month.

"Due to the technical requirements associated with administering a new assessment, the regulatory change that the Board of Regents will consider will include exemptions for students planning to take this exam in June 2022, August 2022, and January 2023," Rosa wrote.

Ten people were killed on May 14 when a gunman opened fire at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo. Three others were wounded in the rampage, which has been described by authorities as a "racially motivated hate crime."

Of the 13 people shot at the store in a predominantly Black neighborhood, 11 of the victims were Black, while two were white, police said.

A white, 18-year-old shooting suspect was arrested shortly after the massacre and charged with first-degree murder.