Indictment Hits; APS Says Culture Has Shifted

March 29th, 2013

Former Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Beverly Hall and 34 other former APS employees were indicted Friday in connection with a 2009 test cheating scandal. The 65-count indictment includes charges of False Statements, Theft by Taking, and Influencing Witnesses.

In addition to Hall, defendants include former APS administrators, assistant principals, and teachers. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard says arrest warrants have been issued but he hopes they won’t be necessary.

“What we are asking is the attorneys and the defendants that they will turn themselves in at the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday,” Howard said.

A Grand Jury has recommended a $7.5 million bond for Hall. The former superintendent has said she had no knowledge of cheating after a state report revealed dozens of APS schools had unusually high numbers of wrong-to-right erasures on state tests. But Howard said his staff has evidence that she did know.

“We have several examples of board members who went in to Dr. Hall and said, ‘I believe there’s cheating going on,’” he said.

Howard said others, including an officer charged with investigating school cheating, also informed Hall. Hall left the district in 2011 when her contract was up. That’s when current APS superintendent Erroll Davis came on board. He said one of his biggest challenges has been was helping the district recover from the cheating scandal.

“While we have enhanced test security and ethics standards over the past few years, we will continue to strengthen our processes as well as expect all our employees to conform to our ethics and integrity expectations,” Davis said.

All APS employees are required to complete ethics training. Board chair Reuben McDaniel said the district’s culture has shifted.

“[There is] a lot more transparency from top to bottom,” McDaniel said, “I think the teachers understand they’re to be effective in the classroom and if they have a difficult time, ask for help instead of taking some other ways.”

The case will soon be assigned to a judge and scheduled for trial. Howard said Hall could face up to 45 years in prison.