The Florida Board of Bar Examiners has given the go-ahead to proceed with the standardized test for law school graduates on July 28 and July 29 despite health concerns in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.
With the agreement of the Florida Supreme Court, the board earlier this month said the exam would proceed at two locations, the Tampa Convention Center and the Orange County Convention Center, with social distancing and other precautions planned to protect students from contracting the virus.
The two locations were chosen so that students can sit at individual tables spaced at least 6 feet apart. In addition, applicants’ temperatures will be taken, and those with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or above will be excluded from taking the exam, according to the board.
But even with the precautions, not everyone is entirely happy with the arrangements. Florida law school deans previously advised the Board of Bar Examiners about the possibilities of having an alternative bar exam in the fall and taking additional steps to decentralize the exam to avoid the traditional congregation of large numbers of applicants in central locations.
Cathren Koehlert-Page, a law professor at Barry University in Orlando, has put up a petition at Change.org raising concerns about the July exam’s possible health effects for the applicants.
“The temperature measures the examiners have in place will fail with respect to the asymptomatic,” the petition states. “Graduates will have to choose between risking their health and lives, their loved ones' health and lives, and their careers.”
The prospect of a bar exam so soon will be stressful for students, many of whom in the wake of the COVID-19 situation have faced financial challenges due to the loss of employment and the transition this spring from in-person classes to an online curriculum, Koehlert-Page said.
“This has been a pretty massive upheaval in everyone’s lives,” she told the Florida Record. “... The bar exam is one of the most stressful ordeals in a student’s life.”
Koehlert-Page supports the deans’ proposed options on the bar exam. A University of Massachusetts biology professor, Erin Bromage, called the current plan for the Florida bar exam insane, she said, adding that having so many people in a closed, air-conditioned space can spread the virus, putting more people at risk.
The exam can be challenging for students with special needs, including asthma sufferers, since those taking the exam will be required to wear masks throughout the assessment, according to Koehlert-Page said.
But the petition does express gratitude that the deadline for applicants to inform the FBBE about needed accommodations – related to physical, education or emotional health challenges – has been extended until July 1.