A sweeping subpoena shows a criminal investigation has begun in earnest involving test tampering at Atlanta public schools and that former Superintendent Beverly Hall could be a target, lawyers said Tuesday.
The subpoena, issued by a Fulton County grand jury, seeks comprehensive information dating back to 1999 regarding teacher transfers and demotions, bonuses paid to employees for improved test scores and copies of complaints from parents, teachers or students of possible improprieties related to Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.
The subpoena also seeks signed copies of "any and all oaths of office" taken by Hall when she was superintendent.
"It's the first shot across the bow," criminal defense attorney Jack Martin said. "This is a clear indication they are looking at criminal charges and that prosecutors are using the grand jury to get the records that could provide circumstantial evidence to support the investigation."
The Fulton probe follows an investigation by special investigators appointed a year ago by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue into test cheating. Their report found that 178 educators were linked to cheating on standardized tests. The investigators also accused top school officials of destroying or altering complaints about misconduct, trying to hinder the investigation and lying to investigators when asked about their involvement.
The governor's investigators gave copies of their files to Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard, who must now decide whether criminal charges are warranted. On Tuesday, through a spokeswoman, Howard declined requests for an interview.
APS educators and administrators face potential charges of giving false statements to investigators or altering public documents, both of which are felonies with punishment of up to 10 years in prison. School officials who submitted test scores that they knew were false also face potential felony charges with penalties of up to five years in prison.
The governor's investigators concluded that Hall knew or should have known that the rising test scores that brought her national acclaim resulted from academic fraud. The Fulton subpoena, which mentions only Hall by name, indicates prosecutors want more information about what she knew or did not know.
"It's obvious she's a subject of the investigation," Martin said. "That's the only reason you'd be seeking that information."
Atlanta defense attorney Steve Sadow agreed. "The subpoena itself would suggest there is some belief they don't have the whole story or that her story is inconsistent with other facts," he said.
Hall's lawyer, Rick Deane, has said Hall "most definitely did not know of any widespread cheating" on standardized tests. When contacted Tuesday, Deane said, "We continue to stand by that wholeheartedly."
Hall has apologized and accepted some responsibility for scandal.
"To the extent that I failed to take measures that would have prevented what the investigators have disclosed, I am accountable, as head of the school system, for failing to act accordingly," Hall wrote in a oped published last month in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Verdaillia Turner, president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers, said people should wait for all the facts before trying to play judge and jury.
“I think some folks are hungry for blood," Turner said. "They are hungry to show in any way possible that public schools aren’t doing the job we know they are doing. We need to know what Hall did. What’s the evidence? What’s the evidence of teacher wrongdoing?”
Turner said her group doesn’t condone cheating, but believes cases should be considered individually. “We should look at the circumstances, just like you look at a homicide,” she said. “Was it first degree murder? Manslaughter? You have to look at it on a case-by-case basis.”
The Fulton subpoena also seeks information that APS previously turned over to a federal grand jury looking into the cheating scandal. That grand jury had sought the information almost a year ago on behalf of the U.S. Attorney's Office, although there has been no indication of late that federal authorities are now aggressively investigating the scandal.
Some taxpayers have been calling for the investigation to move forward. In recent weeks, members of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation launched an e-mail campaign to pressure Howard to issue indictments in the investigation.
“It’s obvious taxpayers want to move on with this,” Barbara Payne, executive director of the foundation.
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