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Erich Martel
Department of Social Studies
Woodrow Wilson H.S.
Washington, D.C. 20016
December 28, 2003
Acting Director, Office of Communications and Public Information
Dr. Johnnie Fairfax, OCR
DC Public Schools
825 North Capitol St., NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
RE: REQUESTS FOR:
A. THE FOLLOWING OFFICIAL DCPS DOCUMENT TO BE POSTED ON THE DCPS
WEBSITE:
"Independent Accountants' (Gardiner Kamya & Associates,
P.C.) Report on Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures Regarding Student
[Academic] Records at Sixteen [DCPS] High Schools/Sites"
B. CORRECTION OF MISINFORMATION DISSEMINATED IN:
- DCPS News Release [by Dr. Linda Wharton Boyd, Director of
Communications], dated December 9, 2003: "DC
PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM REVIEW OF SENIOR
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT RECORDS REPORTS"
- DCPS Press Conference, December 9, 2003, conducted by Dr.
Johnnie Fairfax (DCPS-OCR)
Dear Acting Director of Public Information and Dr. Fairfax,
The "agreed-upon procedures" review conducted by Gardiner
Kamya & Associates, P.C. (GKA) was instituted by Superintendent Vance
after receiving my reports, that 15 prospective graduates in the class of
2002 had not met DCMR-mandated graduation requirements. DCPS officials
contested my reports, claiming variously that 12, 13 or all 15 had
properly graduated (those claims and their alleged sources of
documentation are listed chronologically, below). The DCPS contract with
GKA was not an audit, but an "agreed-upon procedures" review, in
which the client (DCPS) described the categories of documents to be
examined and procedures for selecting staff members to be interviewed.
Despite that limitation, GKA reported the following findings in its review
of the records of the 15 Class of 2002 Wilson H.S. students:
"Our test of the records with respect to the fifteen students
selected by the DCPS from the 2002 graduating class of Wilson High
School revealed that 12 of the students did not meet the DCPS academic
requirements prior to graduation" (p. 4).
Dr. Fairfax's statement at the DCPS press conference that "all of
those students had met graduation requirements" and Dr. Boyd's News
Release that fails to mention the GKA findings are, as this report shows,
highly improper.
The purpose of the December 9th Press Conference and News
Release was to release to the public the "agreed-upon
procedures" review of the accuracy of samples of student academic
records in the 16 high schools/sites and the "agreed-upon
procedures" review of the records of 15 Class of 2002 students of
Woodrow Wilson H.S. The report is a public document containing information
relevant to the educational mission of the D.C. Public Schools, which the
public has a right to know.
The DCPS website is an official bulletin board of the DC Public
Schools. Employees assigned to post information and documents to the
website may not post information that is misleading or false or with
excisions representing their private opinions.
I am, therefore, requesting that you post the official documents listed
below and correct the misinformation in the 12/9/03 DCPS News Release and
issue corrected statements to the Superintendent, to the Board of
Education and to the media.
A. Posting Requests
1. Posting Request #1
Post the entire 68-page report, dated March 30, 2003 and September 22,
2003, including the July 17, 2003, letter from Assistant Superintendent
for High Schools William Wilhoyte to the Principal/Lead Accountant of
Gardiner Kamya & Associates, P.C., the firm with the contract to
review the records. This is the letter that was appended to the 68-page
report, when it was released on 12/9/03.
2. Posting Request #2
Post the entire original contract and all subsequent
amendments between DCPS and Gardiner Kamya & Associates, P.C. on the
contracts web page with a link from the DCPS homepage. The subsequent
amendments must include the following:
a. The details of the expansion of the original contract. The
original contract ("GAGA-2003-Q-0020 - Records Audit") called
for 970 labor hours, completion of fieldwork and submission of final
report within 45 days in return for a fee of $64,310.00.
By early December 2002, the 45-day timeline had been expanded to at
least 146 days: November 7, 2002 (date of letter contract) to March 30,
2003 (date of "End of Field Work" and GKA letter of
transmission to DCPS).
The timeline is much longer, if the final transmission date of
September 22, 2003 is included.
b. The "Audit Plan" (GKA Technical Proposal, 10/28/02);
c. The contract amendment, as signed by DCPS and GKA, that specifies
and defines the exact "agreed-upon procedures" that the GKA
examiners would be testing at each site, including the 15 Class of 2002
students at Woodrow Wilson H.S.
d. Contract wording that prevented the GKA examiners from
i. Reporting information given them on violations of DCMR
regulations in the records of students who had graduated in 2001;
ii. Interviewing teachers whose grade reports were in question.
3. Posting Request #3
Post the first of the two internal DCPS investigation reports that Dr.
Fairfax mentioned in his remarks at the press conference. Since June 2002,
DCPS officials have issued contradictory statements about the first, still
unreleased, internal investigation over the past two years; a chronology
of references to it is listed below.
When posting this document, list the information for each student by
using the same randomly assigned identifying numbers, i.e. #1 through #15,
that are used in the GKA report and remove any personally identifiable
information that may still be found in the report. No other changes are
necessary.
References in that report to students from the Class of 2001 may not be
removed. They should be identified by a separate sequence of numbers, such
as 01-1, 01-2 etc.
4. Posting Request #4
Post a new News Release correcting the misleading and false information
in the 12/9/03 DCPS News Release on the 12/9/03 Press Conference (details,
below).
B. Chronology of References to the Report of the First Internal
Investigation (Posting Request #3)
The existence of this investigation, conducted prior to the June 11,
2002, graduation, and the still unreleased report of its alleged findings
have been frequently cited by school officials to buttress claims that 12,
13 or all 15 of the 15 prospective graduates had met all graduation
requirements. These public references, statements and claims, in
chronological order, are:
1. May 13, 2002
Summaries of the 15 Class of 2002 students' deficiencies sent via
email and USPS return receipt to DCPS Superintendent Dr. Paul Vance, his
Chief of Staff Dr. Steven Seleznow, and hand delivered to Wilson H.S.
Principal, Dr. Stephen Tarason.
2. May 17 - 28, 2002
Summaries of 78 Class of 2001 students' deficiencies sent to the
above officials in 3 batches: Students 01-1 to 01-35; Students 01-36 to
01-55; Students 01-56 to 01-78.
3. June 9, 2002 (Washington Post)
"School Superintendent Paul L. Vance is investigating
irregularities involving student transcripts at Wilson."
4. June 10, 2002
a. DCPS Chief of Staff, Dr. Steven Seleznow (statement to Chris
Gordon, WRC-TV, channel 4):
"As of early this afternoon, 13 of these 15 cases
(seniors scheduled to graduate) have been resolved. There are
two student cases that we are still working on and they may even
have been resolved by this point."
Concluding comments by reporter Chris Gordon:
"Tonight, D.C. school officials say that they are confident
that every student who walks across the stage tomorrow at
Constitution Hall will be there because they deserve to
graduate."
b. Report by WJLA-TV, channel 7, reporter John Harter:
"Wilson H.S. Principal Stephen Tarason didn't want to go on
camera, but he told me that the knew that at least four of the grade
upgrades were done by teachers, but two he knew of were not
and an investigation is underway."
5. June 11, 2002 (Wilson H.S. graduation, D.A.R. Constitution Hall)
a. Wilson H.S. graduation program:
i. 13 of the 15 students' names were listed on the program;
the following students (using the random numbers assigned by GKA)
were not listed on the program: #3 & #14 (see comparative chart,
below);
ii. The graduation program contained the following statement:
"Please be advised that this list of candidates is
tentative. Woodrow Wilson Senior High School reserves the right to
withdraw or add names to this list."
This caveat, which many teachers consider improper, is defended
by the argument that students don't receive an actual diploma when
they walk across the stage; they receive the actual diploma several
weeks later after they have cleared all obligations.
Nevertheless, DCMR Title 5 - chapter 22; 2202.2 states
unambiguously:
"Each student who meets the requirements [for graduation]
shall be certified as eligible to receive the high school diploma
by the principal or other person in charge of the school or
program in which the student is enrolled."
Thus, it is a violation of the DCMR to certify any student who,
at the time of certification, does not, i.e. at that moment,
"meet the requirements."
b. DCPS Chief of Staff Dr. Steven Seleznow addresses the graduating
class and makes the following statement:
"Look to your left; look to your right. Everyone you see
here deserves to be here."
6. August 26, 2002: DCPS Press Conference
a. DCPS News Release, [dated] August 26, 2002
"After an immediate review of these records, 12 of the 15
students were approved for graduation."
b. The undated [prior to August 23, 2002] "Report of the
Outside Review conducted by Dr. Dianne Mero, Educational
Consultant" that was released at the August 26, 2002, press
conference. The specific reference reads:
"Under the direction of Wilson Senior High School principal,
Dr. Stephen Tarason, a full review of each challenged transcript/DCPS
database record for the fifteen students was conducted. By the time
of graduation, twelve of the fifteen students were determined to
be eligible for a DCPS high school diploma."
7. August 27, 2002 (Washington Post)
Report of the August 26, 2002 DCPS press conference in which DCPS
officials were cited as follows:
"An ongoing investigation at the District's Wilson Senior High
School has confirmed that grades were improperly raised and credits
wrongly awarded, D.C. school officials said
"
"In three cases, students forged teachers' signatures on
school forms requesting grade changes, which boosted failing grades to
passing ones, said Wilson principal Stephen Tarason.
"Tarason said the three cases of forgery, which were uncovered
in an internal review by Wilson staff, involved two students who
are not longer at Wilson. He said both students failed to graduate
because they did not meet other requirements."
8. August 28, 2002 (The Current)
The report of the August 26, 2002 DCPS press conference cited DCPS
Chief of Staff Dr. Steven Seleznow:
"According to Steven Seleznow, the school system's chief of
staff, top administrators quickly moved to begin a investigation into
15 of the cases - or those students who were to graduate in June. He
reported Monday that 12 of those students were determined to
eligible for graduation, with the other three now working to
complete their requirements."
9. July 17, 2003: Letter from DCPS Acting Assistant Superintendent
William P. Wilhoyte to Alexis Stowe, Principal/Vice President of GKA.
Writing as a representative of an unidentified, "the
committee," but one clearly charged with overseeing the student
records review, Dr. Wilhoyte wrote,
"[T]he superintendent did, as you perhaps know, direct that an
internal study of the Wilson Senior High School graduations be
conducted. The conclusions of that study are different from your
findings which is (sic), we believe, attributable to a review of
dissimilar data by the two groups. We are requesting you review the
included confidential copy of the internal committee's report
and suggest amendments to your report to reflect these differences.
Your acknowledgement of findings based on the review of different data
will more accurately reflect the work of each group and eliminate
unnecessary and inappropriate comparisons" (emphasis added;
letter appended to the September 22, 2003 GKA report).
10. December 9, 2003: DCPS Press Conference to Release the Report
Statements by Dr. Johnnie Fairfax, the DCPS official who released the
GKA report:
a. "the 15 people who were in question, they all graduated
with the correct requirements" (Fox News, channel 5,
12/9/03).
b. "school officials said that they located records -
independently of the private firm's review - showing that all of those
students met graduation requirements" (Washington Post,
12/10/03).
11. December 9, 2003: DCPS Press Conference to Release the Report
Statements by Wilson H.S. Principal, Dr. Stephen Tarason, to the
editor of The Current newspaper (he was in attendance, but not a
speaker):
"Wilson principal Stephen Tarason said that the accounting
firm had access to only the school's electronic records, which just
report grades received while in the District's public schools and do
not include information about community service. Grades received at
charter, private, or non-District public schools were maintained
manually.
"With access to that data, Tarason said that the school
system determined the students' records to be complete.
"Johnnie Fairfax, a program officer who was one of the prime
speakers at the news conference, confirmed Tarason's statements.
"Fairfax said there were three reports, two of which were done
internally, and the third which was done by Gardiner Kamya. The
internal reports were able to include the manually maintained
records" (The Current, 12/10/03).
C. Request for the Correction of Misleading and False Information in
the 12/9/03 DCPS News Release on the 12/9/03 Press Conference
The contract to review D.C. student high school records was between the
D.C. Public Schools and GKA. In the original letter contract of November
7, 2002, signed by Alexis Stowe for GKA and Glorious Bazemore, as
Contracting Officer for DCPS, Dr. Johnnie Fairfax is listed as
"Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)," in
which capacity he is acting as an agent and employee of the D.C. Public
Schools. While acting in this official capacity, he is obligated to
communicate the facts of an official document.
Dr. Linda Wharton Boyd, Director of Communications, and the staff of
the DCPS Public Information Office are employees of the D.C. Public
Schools. While acting in their official capacities, such as the
preparation of DCPS News Releases for posting on the DCPS website and
dissemination to the public, they are obligated to accurately summarize
the facts of official documents and reports; they may not alter the
meaning, misstate the facts or take it upon themselves to delete important
facts from a News Release.
The 12/9/03 News Release contains the following false or misleading
statements, highlighted in bold, or deleted information. Each one
will be followed by an indented correction and comment:
a. The DCPS News Release states:
"(DCPS) officials received preliminary reports on the
findings of the recent study of the school system's student records
management and reporting policies."
Correction:
The GKA report is a final report; it is not identified as a
"preliminary report." An initial report, internally
dated March 30, 2003, was submitted prior to the July 17, 2003, letter
from Dr. William Wilhoyte to the lead GKA accountant, in which he
listed objections to some of the conclusions of the report. The final
report by GKA was submitted to DCPS on September 22, 2003.
The report of the Student Records Management Review Task Force, which
is dated August 1, 2003 and marked "Final Report," was
released along with the GKA report.
Significance:
The use of the term "preliminary reports" implies
that the GKA report is inaccurate or in need of correction.
b. The DCPS News Release states:
"Following the allegations [in May 2002], former Superintendent
Dr. Paul L. Vance assembled an investigation team to examine each
allegation and appointed an external consultant to review the
reported allegations and the findings of the team.
"The independent consultant, Gardiner, Kamya &
Associates, P.C. (GKA), performed certain agreed-upon procedures
"
Clarification:
The terms "external consultant" and "independent
consultant," in the context of the investigations of student
grade records at Wilson H.S., do not refer to a single individual. The
"external consultant," in the above context, was Dr.
Dianne Mero, who was hired in July or August 2002 and wrote a
five-page summary of the following two internal DCPS investigation
reports:
1. The still unreleased report of the investigation conducted by
Wilson H.S. principal Dr. Steven Tarason prior to the June 11th
graduation; and
2. The "Report of the Site Visit to Wilson Senior High
School Fact Finding Investigation," conducted by a team of
current and retired DCPS administrators and counselors. It visited
Wilson H.S. on June 17 & 18, 2002; the report of the team is
dated August 18, 2002.
By referring to GKA as "The independent
consultant" immediately after the reference to the "external
consultant," they appear to be the same.
The GKA reviewers, rather confusingly described as the "independent
consultant," entered into contract with DCPS on November 7,
2002, three months after Dr. Mero prepared her report as
"independent consultant."
c. The DCPS News Release (12/9/03) states:
"The investigation team (i.e. GKA)
scrutinized the records
of the 15 Wilson Senior High School students to determine whether they
met established graduation credits."
Correction:
The News Release fails to then add the most salient findings of the
GKA review:
"Our test of the records with respect to the fifteen
students selected by the DCPS from the 2002 graduating class of Wilson
High School revealed that 12 of the students did not meet the DCPS
academic requirements prior to graduation" (p. 4).
Significance:
The improper and unauthorized decision on the director of the Office
of Communications, Dr. Linda Wharton Boyd, or her designee, not to
include this information in the News Release omits one of the most
important findings of the GKA review, one that the Board of Education
and the public had been awaiting.
A new News Release containing the full summary of the GKA findings
must be posted to the DCPS website. To avoid any difficulties, the
Office of Communications staff merely needs to reprint the verbatim
"Findings" on pages 3-5 of the GKA report.
d. The DCPS News Release states:
"The DCPS team and GKA found that while there were serious
concerns about student records management and evidence of discrepancies,
there is not evidence of deliberate tampering."
Correction:
1. Deceptive statement:
The GKA report never makes the categorical statement, "there
is not evidence of deliberate tampering."
In the case of each of the high schools, including the 15 class of
2001 students at Wilson H.S., the report states that tampering may
have existed.
Unfortunately, the GKA report does not define
"tampering." The following statement in the GKA letter of
transmittal suggests why:
"We were not engaged to and did not perform an audit, the
objective of which would be the expression of an opinion on the DCPS
high school student records. Accordingly, we do not express such an
opinion. Had we performed additional procedures, other matters may
have come to our attention that would be having been (sic) reported to
you."
"The sufficiency of the procedures is solely the
responsibility of the DCPS" (p. 1).
The findings of the reviewers, inconsistencies, students [at Wilson
H.S.] who were graduated without sufficient credits, inflated credits,
undocumented grade changes, a student at Wilson H.S. (GKA #10) who had
only earned 16 credits and had an undocumented increase of a World
History grade from F to D, etc., all of which represented improper and
unauthorized actions in violation of several DC Municipal Regulations,
etc., are indicators of what is commonly considered
"tampering."
2. Deceptive syntax:
"The DCPS team" conflates the pre-graduation,
still-unreleased report of the investigation supervised by the
principal with the GKA report. In turn, it conflates and confuses the
pre-graduation principal's investigation with the DCPS team of present
and former DCPS administrators & counselors that spent two days at
the school (June 17 & 18, 2002).
"The DCPS team" and "GKA" conducted separate
examinations of the Wilson H.S. records and only GKA examined the
records of the other high schools. In joining these two completely
separate reviews of Wilson H.S. student records together as dual
subjects of the verb, "found," the writer of the News
Release is attempting to confer the legitimacy and credibility of the
GKA review on the still-secret conclusions of "the DCPS
team."
2. The main clause ("there is not evidence of deliberate
tampering.") employs the non-specific subject, "there
"
The effect of that construction is to imply that the information in
the clause is the shared conclusion of both "the DCPS team"
and "GKA." At the same time, it doesn't unequivocally pin
that conclusion to either one; thus, if GKA protested, the DCPS News
Release writer could claim that it's only the conclusion of "the
DCPS team."
Anyone who reads the GKA report can see that the possibility of
tampering is repeatedly suggested. Listed below are the statements
under the heading "tampering," as they are found in the
individual reports of each high school:
a. "Our review of students records at the 16 schools
revealed that records were
unreliable (subject to
tampering,)" (p. 15).
b. Anacostia H.S.: "Tampering may have occurred"
(p. 19).
c. Ballou H.S.: "tampering may exist undetected, and
may in fact be undetectable" (p. 21).
d. Bell MC H.S.: "Of the 32 students [out of 59] for whom
scan sheets were available, 12 had grades recorded in their student
records that did not agree with the scan sheets (i.e. grades were
different or a grade was not recorded in the scan sheet at all). The
differences were not supported by any documentation in the student
records;
"In all instances where grades were recorded on the scan
sheets and the student records, the grades in the student records
were higher than that recorded on the scan sheets."
"These findings could be indications of tampering with
the grading process.
In the absence of the grade
verification process, tampering may exist and not be detected, and
may in fact be undetectable" (pp. 25-26).
e. Benjamin Banneker H.S.: "tampering may exist
undetected, and may in fact be undetectable"(p. 28).
f. Cardozo H.S.: "tampering may exist undetected, and
may in fact be undetectable" (p. 32).
g. Dunbar H.S.: "Because [all administrative staff used the
same password to gain read/write access to students' electronic
records],
the opportunity for tampering was greatly enhanced
and the reliability of the students' records was questionable"
(p. 35).
h. Ellington H.S.: "tampering may have occurred without
being detected" (p. 40).
i. Luke Moore H.S.: "we could not conclude on the
questions of whether tampering occurred at this school because
we were unable to review a significant number of student
records" (p. 43).
j. Roosevelt H.S.: "We were unable to complete the
procedures with respect to 'tampering' because of the significant
number of files not made available to us" (p. 45).
k. School Without Walls H.S.: "
all members of the
administrative staff
ed the same password to gain read/write
access to students' electronic records, thus increasing the
possibility of tampering" (p. 47).
l. Spingarn H.S.: "
tampering may have existed and not
be detected, and may in fact not be detectable" (p. 49).
m. M.M. Washington H.S.: "
we did note numerous
inconsistencies in the student records. The quantity, nature and
direction of these inconsistencies, particularly those noted at 5a
above [inflated credits; credit for courses not documented], may
be indicators of tampering" (p. 53).
n. Wilson H.S. (this only refers to the 59 random samples, not
the 15 class of 2002 students): "student records were
incomplete, inconsistent, inaccurate, and unreliable.
"Because the school did not implement the grade verification
process mandated by the DCPS, tampering may have existed and not be
detected, and may in fact not be detectable" (p.56).
o. Woodson H.S.: "Because the school did not implement the
grade verification process mandated by the DCPS, tampering may
have existed and not be detected, and may in fact not be
detectable" (p. 58).
D. Correction of Misleading or False Statements Made to the Media
(& possibly, the Board of Education)
1. "School officials said yesterday that the report was in
draft stage until last week" (Washington Post, 12/10/03).
The report carries a final date of September 22, 2003. The internal
letter of transmittal, page 1 of the report, is dated March 30, 2003.
There is no indication that the report from GKA, as released to the
media on 12/9/03, existed in any other form than it did on September 22,
2003.
If it did exist "in draft stage until last week," i.e. the
first week of December, Dr. Fairfax needs to explain what, if any, changes
were made to it by DCPS officials that changed its status from
"draft" to final copy.
2. Please note that this statement contradicts the 12/9/03 News
Release, which refers to the GKA report as "preliminary report."
3. "The school board was briefed about the findings Monday
[12/8/03] night, and some board members questioned why it took more than a
year to complete the report" (Washington Post, 12/10/03).
What statements about the report did "school officials" make
to the school board?
Did "school officials" make the same unsupported claims based
on the unseen confidential report that Dr. Fairfax made to the media?
E. Questions That Need to Be Answered
1. The GKA reviewers report that there were missing scan (bubble)
sheets at all high school sites, including Wilson H.S. That means 7-10
scan sheets per year per student, just for final grades.
Why weren't the reviewers authorized to ask staff members to verify
grades in question?
2. Many teachers make photocopies of their scan sheets and the grade
verification sheets prior to turning them in to the registrar or assistant
principal. Why weren't the reviewers authorized to ask teachers, if they
had copies to show them?
Note: there are two separate issues here:
a. The organization and maintenance of students' records.
b. The accuracy of specific grades that came to the reviewers'
attention.
Disorganization in the storing, maintenance and accuracy of records
does not preclude an investigator from determining whether a given grade
is accurate or not. In my investigation, I spoke with over 60 teachers,
including several who had retired. Washington Post reporter Justin Blum
spoke with a number of teachers, several of whom agreed to let him use
their names. Why were the GKA reviewers restricted from doing this?
F. Conclusion
Despite the limitations and constraints imposed upon the scope of its
"agreed-upon procedures," the GKA reviewers reached the same
conclusions I had: it confirmed the mismanagement of records and the
absence of evidence that 12 students had met DCMR graduation requirements.
Although the nature of its "agreed-upon procedures" review
prevented it from a characterization ("expression of an
opinion") of its findings, there should be no doubt that its findings
showed that students' grades were intentionally changed by those with
authorized access to enter course, credit and grade information into
students' records.
The denials by "school officials" of the findings of the GKA
reviewers, as this report documents, should be understood as a public
declaration of an entrenched core of privileged insiders that they are
above accountability. Only time will tell if they are - once again -
right.
I look forward to your rapid response to the correction of the
misinformation cited in this report.
Sincerely,
Erich Martel
cc: Dr. Elfreda Massie, Superintendent, DCPS
Ms. Peggy Cooper-Cafritz, President, & Members, D.C. Board of
Education
Mr. Kevin Chavous, Chairman, Education & Library Committee of the City
Council
Teachers, SCAC Member & LSRT Members, Woodrow Wilson H.S.
Mr. Justin Blum & Mr. Colbert King, The Washington Post
Ms. Beth Cope, Current Newspaper
Mr. Doug Hartnett, Government Accountability Project
Chairpersons and Members, Blue Ribbon Panel
Mr. George Springer, Administrator, WTU/AFT
Ms. Sandra Feldman, President, AFT |
