More than 20 auditors from the Mississippi Department of Education were conducting an accreditation audit of the Leflore County School District on Wednesday, according to Dr. Rusty Douglas.
Douglas, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood and a critic of the school district’s response to a Commonwealth investigation of testing irregularities, said this morning that he spent about an hour Wednesday with Eileen Milner and Bill McGeehee, two independent contractors for the Department of Education.
“They were quizzing me about this alleged cheating scandal,” Douglas said.
The irregularities found in the Commonwealth investigation include an improbably high number of answers changed from wrong to right on state tests at Leflore County Elementary School. During 2010 and 2011, teachers at the Itta Bena school were flagged 36 times for having wrong-to-right erasure rates exceeding the state’s alert threshold. No other teacher in the rest of the district was flagged.
The wrong-to-right erasure rates at Leflore Elementary were as many as 32 times higher than the state average.
The state uses the results from these required standardized tests in rating schools and districts.
Last year, the state sent in auditors to monitor the testing. The erasure rates and test scores both dropped dramatically. Both the school and the district fell two notches in the state’s accountability ratings, dropping from “successful” to “low-performing” — now considered an F in the state’s new A-F grading system.
In January, Douglas appeared before the Leflore County School Board and requested an update on the district’s findings. The district later announced it had no evidence of testing irregularities or violations.
Douglas said he’s been in contact with state education officials about the apparent cheating, including Kim Benton, the interim deputy state superintendent of education, and Dr. Paula Vanderford, manager of the department’s Education Bureau.
Dr. Viola Williams McCaskill, superintendent of the Leflore County School District, said in a written statement this morning that the Department of Education’s Office of Accreditation made an unannounced visit beginning Monday.
“The purpose of the visit was to examine and observe the district’s entire operation,” and it included the curriculum as well as the district’s buildings and grounds, she said.
Patrice Guilfoyle, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said this morning she was not familiar with the specifics of the agency’s interest in the Leflore County district.
“It may have been a random unannounced audit,” she said.
Leflore County is one of 25 such districts that the department will visit within the academic year, according to McCaskill.
In her statement, McCaskill said a written report from the Office of Accreditation should be sent to the district within the next 45 days. She said the district’s employees welcomed the state officials. The statement did not mention the allegations of cheating.
Douglas said the large number of officials involved with the audit indicates something larger than just a routine occurrence.
“You don’t bring 22 people down here to look at one issue,” he said. Douglas said he was told 20 auditors were at Leflore County Elementary School alone.
Douglas said he believes the state auditors “are very interested in maintaining the integrity of the schools in this state” and “are taking this very seriously.”
Douglas said he has filed a formal request for a copy of the district’s in-house report on the testing irregularities. He said he doesn’t expect a lengthy report.
He also said the state officials promised him a copy of their report once it is completed, which may take a while.
He expressed confidence that the state would get to the bottom of the scandal.
“I think this is a good-faith, diligent effort,” he said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
