Tucson Unified School District Governing Board member Michael Hicks is outraged by the appearance of a cover-up by Superintendent H.T. Sanchez in the Tucson High grade changing scandal. According to Hicks, the administration did not notify the Board members that Tucson High students had been caught changing grades.
Hicks only found out about the crime after he was contacted by the media. According to the Superintendent’s office in an email to Board members after the news broke, “The scheme was uncovered by a teacher, who noticed that some students had grades in an electronic gradebook that did not match her records. She reported it to the principal, and an investigation began. Ultimately, the investigation found that a few students had learned the teacher’s password and then began charging a fee to change grades for other students.”
District insiders say that Sanchez felt no need to notify the Board of the matter because it wouldn’t have mattered to the majority on the rubber stamp Board.
Over Tucson High School students have been implicated in the grade-changing scheme. Those students will not face law enforcement. Although some have called for a criminal investigation into those students who sold the grades – which many say amounts to racketeering – students will only have to retake a required course to earn credit for it. According to the Superintendent’s office: “For those who are seniors, graduation will be delayed until credits are completed. It will be offered as an in-person class during the summer.”
“We are disappointed that the students chose this as their avenue to try to raise their grades,” said Dr. H.T. Sanchez, superintendent of Tucson Unified School District. “Our teachers are always available for tutoring and to assist our students, and there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way of doing things. There are also consequences for the wrong things.”
The Superintendent’s office advised Board members that the District’s Technology Services department is “working to require teachers to change passwords more frequently to help prevent a reoccurrence.”