Norfolk leaders to seek answers on school cheating scandal

NORFOLK

A month after a report cited wrongdoing by multiple school staffers for standardized test tampering and other problems, few employees have been disciplined and officials still refuse to release information about the violations.

On Tuesday, city and school leaders will hold their first meeting since media reports revealed that an investigatory panel found that Lafayette-Winona Middle School's principal coerced teachers into fabricating students' work to help win state accreditation. The panel also said she made false statements to get a teacher fired after he reported the violations to the state.

The City Council, which appoints the School Board, expressed outrage about the report's findings after it was disclosed in a March 10 Virginian-Pilot article.

The confidential report, which the division refused to release but the newspaper obtained from a source close to the School Board, depicted a division with few controls on principals. It also found that high-level administrators demanded little accountability even when aware of irregularities in how state assessment tests are given. The panel was appointed by the board and Superintendent Stephen Jones.

"We never got a full explanation from the School Board as to how the irregularities occurred," Mayor Paul Fraim said Friday. "And there's the issue of accountability: Who's responsible for the irregularities?"

Fraim said that in the weeks since the report was publicized, he's seen no "affirmative actions to cure whatever went wrong."

"We need to know what lessons have been learned from that and what steps are put in place to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. The council will also talk with the board about next year's proposed school budget.

So far, no school employees are known to have been fired or lost their licenses over irregularities, and the division's attorney is still refusing to release about 1,000 pages of evidence - e-mails, student records and interview transcripts - investigators used to compile the report.

Much of the board lately has taken a passive stance when it comes to the irregularities, saying it is leaving decisions about disciplinary penalties to Jones, and relying on the state to conduct a division wide review of testing practices and violations in Norfolk. Jones, who was unavailable for comment because he was on vacation last week, is retiring in June.

Board Chairman Stephen Tonelson said the state's review will give a completely objective portrayal of testing practices in Norfolk.

He said Jones will tell members in a closed session this week what personnel actions will be taken in response to the panel's report. If the board disagrees with those actions, it can ask Jones to reconsider, Tonelson said.

One board member, Jim Driggers, has stood at every board meeting since the report was discussed to symbolize his frustration that Jones hasn't reacted more quickly to the panel's findings. Jones has said employees who are faulted deserve time to explain their actions before disciplinary decisions are made.

But Reid Ervin, attorney for Lafayette-Winona Principal Cassandra Goodwyn, has complained that without access to the reams of evidence, it's been difficult for his client to respond to allegations.

Also represented by an attorney is Cathy Lassiter, the division's executive director for middle schools, who was cited in the panel report for "serious" improprieties connected with the Lafayette-Winona case.

Two teachers from the school were placed on paid leave. In addition, Goodwyn was temporarily reassigned last month to a non instructional post at the division's central office.

Michael Spencer, the division's chief operations officer, has said Goodwyn's first task was to write a response to the panel's findings. Spencer was also cited in the report for not reviewing documents that supported the whistle-blower's belief that he was unjustly targeted by Goodwyn in his job evaluation.

The public's best chance at learning more about Norfolk's testing violations may come next month, when the state Education Department presents its findings from a divisionwide testing review.

The School Board requested that the state begin the work in February. So far, at least four schools have been cited for testing problems. The allegations range from a high number of erasures on test answer sheets to teachers who gave students test answers using overhead projectors.

In the meantime, the state department is also providing technical assistance to Norfolk schools on how to properly conduct Standards of Learning tests and other evaluations used to determine a school's accreditation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia is also waiting on division leaders to respond to a request that they investigate "all instances of students or teachers being subjected to inappropriate religious pressure." The ACLU's request came after some Oakwood staffers told the state their principal encouraged faculty to pray openly before Standards of Learning testing and participate in an onsite Bible study.

Jones reviewed the complaints and did not report any wrongdoing.

While school leaders have been slow to disclose information about the violations or discipline staffers, they are methodically implementing new procedures to ensure there are fewer testing violations in the future.

On April 15, staff in every school will attend a "stand-down" where new and existing guidelines on testing protocol will be presented. Principals probably won't allow the media to attend the exercise, division spokeswoman Elizabeth Thiel Mather said.

A similar refresher session for principals and administrators was held March 30 and was covered by local media.

New, tighter testing procedures recently implemented require now that each school give enrollment counts with completed test answer sheets to the central testing office. Administrators will cross-reference attendance with test results to make sure all students are accounted for.

The division's SOL testing checklist also stipulates that each principal ultimately is responsible for a smooth testing process. Principals must check to ensure that all enrolled students have proper test records.

The division is expanding online test-taking in a bid to reduce errors. This spring, all middle schools and four grade schools will test electronically instead of with paper and pencils.

There is also a new phone number - (757) 628-1170 - that staff members can call to report testing problems confidentially and directly to the central office.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com