Newpoint High School is under investigation after we reported in March that whistleblowers came forward with allegations of grade tampering. The school had weeks before received a check from Gov. Rick Scott for “earning” its third consecutive “A” grade.
Newpoint responded to the controversy with a press release that denied the allegations. The school said that the insinuation that changing grades is the reason for the school’s A grades was also false and misinformed. According to the school, the state grading formula is based only on the student’s scores on state assessments, and not related to classroom grades. “Therefore, there is no correlation between false allegations of grade tampering and the school’s success as an ‘A’ rated school.â€
Through a public records request, Inweekly has received a copy of an email, dated May 20, 2014, from Newpoint Principal John Graham that told teachers that the school grade and their jobs were impacted by the graduation rate.
He wrote, “Seniors last day will be Friday – some will need every minute of time before being cleared to walk. Please be responsive as the school grade and your spot are impacted by graduation rate.”
Inweekly is pouring over volumes of emails and other documents related to the allegations of grade fixing. We will have more later.
Read Job_at_Stake.