Former high-ranking APS official enters plea, implicates Hall

What she will offer as evidence: Few said in her plea agreement that Superintendent Beverly Hall ordered the shredding of investigative reports on cheating. The agreement said Few believed Hall created a culture that encouraged cheating because complaints were often unsubstantiated, whistle-blowers were retaliated against.

What her sentence will be: Few must serve one year on probation, complete 250 hours of community service, pay $800 in restitution and cooperate with prosecutors. As a first-time offender, she won't have a conviction on her record if she successfully completes probation. If Few had gone to trial, she would have faced a maximum sentence of 20 years if found guilty on a conspiracy charge.

The case so far

19 guilty pleas:

Millicent Few, Atlanta Public Schools human resources director

Lucious Brown, principal of Kennedy Middle School

Clarietta Davis, principal of Venetian Hills Elementary School

Armstead Salters, principal of Gideons Elementary School

Gregory Reid, assistant principal of Parks Middle School

Starlette Mitchell, teacher at Parks Middle School

Kimberly Oden, teacher at Parks Middle School

Derrick Broadwater, teacher at Dobbs Elementary School

Shayla Smith, teacher at Dobbs Elementary School

Gloria Ivey, teacher at Dunbar Elementary School

Lisa Terry, teacher at Humphries Elementary School

Ingrid Abella-Sly, teacher at Humphries Elementary School

Wendy Ahmed, teacher at Humphries Elementary School

Sheila Evans, teacher at Benteen Elementary School

Francis Mack, testing coordinator at D.H. Stanton Elementary School

Sheridan Rogers, testing coordinator at Gideons Elementary School

Lera Middlebrooks, testing coordinator at Dunbar Elementary School

Tamaka Goodson, school improvement specialist at Kennedy Middle School

Carol Dennis, secretary at Kennedy Middle School

15 defendants remain who have pleaded not guilty:

Beverly Hall, superintendent

Tamara Cotman, area superintendent

Michael Pitts, area superintendent

Sharon Davis-Williams, area superintendent

Dana Evans, principal of Dobbs Elementary

Christopher Waller, principal of Parks Middle School

Tabeeka Jordan, assistant principal of Deerwood Academy

Donald Bullock, testing coordinator at Usher/Collier Heights Elementary

Theresia Copeland, testing coordinator at Benteen Elementary

Sandra Ward, testing coordinator at Parks Middle School

Diane Buckner-Webb, teacher at Dunbar Elementary

Pamela Cleveland, teacher at Dunbar Elementary

Dessa Curb, teacher at Dobbs Elementary

Shani Robinson, teacher at Dunbar Elementary

Angela Williamson, teacher at Dobbs Elementary

A high-ranking Atlanta Public Schools administrator pleaded guilty Monday to her role in the test-cheating scandal that shook the city and agreed to become the prosecution’s most valuable witness in the case against her ex-boss.

Millicent Few, who once headed the school system’s human resources department, was one of former Superintendent Beverly Hall’s most trusted advisers, Deputy District Attorney Fani Willis said during the plea hearing.

Few is expected to testify that Hall ordered the destruction of internal investigative reports that found “a substantial likelihood that cheating occurred” in 2008 when students took standardized tests at Deerwood Academy, Willis said. The documents were destroyed to keep them out of public view and to allow a watered-down, final report be issued instead, the prosecutor said.

Few became the 19th APS defendant to enter a negotiated guilty plea in the massive case. Fifteen defendants remain and at least two more could enter guilty pleas this Friday, Willis said.

Hall will not be among them. “This does not change Dr. Hall’s resolve to continue to fight the charges against her,” her attorney, Richard Deane, said of Few’s guilty plea. “She is presumed innocent and continues to look forward to her day in court.”

Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard released a statement that said he applauded “the courage displayed by Ms. Few for not only pleading guilty (and) agreeing to serve as a witness for the state, but also for providing key information regarding the operation of this conspiracy to rob our children of their basic right to a quality education.”

Few, 55, pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of malfeasance in office. She was sentenced to 12 months on probation and ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and to pay $800 in restitution. Because she pleaded guilty as a first offender, Few will not have a conviction on her record if she successfully completes the terms of her probation. A lawyer, Few also will be able to keep her law license, said her attorney, Dwight Thomas.

“I want to sincerely apologize to the citizens of Atlanta and specifically the students,” Few told Baxter. “I want to apologize to them, and I look forward to hopefully moving forward with my life.”

Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter, who accepted the guilty plea, acknowledged Few was getting a good deal in exchange for her cooperation. “You were up at the top, and the state, it appears, needs you as an important witness in this case,” he said. “It’s their position that you observed it first-hand.”

Few knew that destroying and withholding documents were illegal, Willis said.

On one occasion, Few participated in a cover-up at APS by failing to turn over documents requested in 2009 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution under the Open Records Act. Few directed that 10 investigative files involving allegations of test cheating be withheld from the newspaper when she knew they should have been turned over, Willis said.

Few began to wonder as far back as September 2001, while reading an AJC report about suspicious test score gains, whether they were being achieved legitimately, Willis said. During a meeting of her executive cabinet at that time, Hall responded to doubters and critics by stating, “I do not understand why people do not believe our urban children can learn.”

Few now believes that Hall’s “mantra of questioning why people didn’t believe urban or African-American children couldn’t learn was not sincere,” Willis said.

Few’s testimony will establish that Hall was aware of test cheating throughout APS, Willis said.

Perhaps her most damaging testimony could be her account of what happened after concerns were raised by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement about improbable test score gains by students at Deerwood Academy in 2008.

After the state launched an investigation of Deerwood, APS hired lawyer Penn Payne to conduct an internal investigation, Willis said. When Hall learned that an early draft found a likelihood of test-cheating had occurred, she ordered all copies to be shredded by Colinda Howard, who headed the school district’s internal investigations office from 2005 to 2010, Willis said.

When Few asked Hall if she thought that was appropriate, Hall reaffirmed her order, Willis said.

“Few physically stood over Colinda Howard and watched her as she carried out the directive to shred all copies of the Deerwood report,” Willis said. ” … Few knew that defendant Hall wanted to destroy any evidence that Penn Payne had found a substantial evidence of cheating.”

Payne, who is traveling in Southeast Asia, could not be reached for comment. In 2011, she released a statement denying that her conclusions about Deerwood were changed “in any material way,” and “I did not amend any adverse findings.”

The version of her report released by APS found that, while Deerwood did not follow test-procedure protocol, she found no proof that cheating occurred.

Baxter, who has already extended deadlines for negotiated pleas, agreed once more to extend the deadline to this Friday because of the ice storm that shut down the city last week. But there will be no more extensions, said Baxter, who has scheduled the lengthy trial to begin this spring.

“Friday’s it, and we’re going to march on with this case and get it over with,” Baxter said. “We need to know who’s in the show and who’s not.”