With a key deadline looming to satisfy a Fulton County subpoena regarding alleged cheating, Atlanta Public School officials are warning students and parents that student test results and other private information is being turned over to a grand jury.
On Monday, court officials will begin accessing data – including school system computer hard drives – that were used by former Superintendent Beverly Hall, former Deputy Superintendent Kathy Augustine, former Human Resources Chief Millicent Few and others.
In a notice placed on the district’s website, students and parents were advised that the Fulton County grand jury has requested “records that may include education information and records such as parent/guardian communications, testing results (such as CRCT results) and other information.”
The notice goes on to say that APS and Fulton County court officials, “take you and your child’s privacy very seriously and will use the information received only in a manner allowed by law."
The Fulton District Attorney's Office is asking for the information as a result of a state investigation into widespread cheating on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests at APS. State investigators said they found evidence of cheating at 44 schools involving about 180 educators.
Keith Bromery, a spokesman for APS, said Thursday, that while the information is being turned over to the courts, APS will not make it public. However, it is unclear whether this information will be released as part of an investigative report later.
In August, the first of at least two subpoenas from the Fulton County grand jury asked for the names of all employees who received bonuses for improved student test scores, as well as a list of those disciplined since 1999. The subpoena also sought a list of all teachers, principals and administrators “fired, transferred or demoted since 1999, along with reasons for their status change.”
Bromery said the district has “already turned over a lot of the information.”
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