The names of Beverly Hall and five high-ranking Atlanta Public Schools officials were turned over to a state licensing board, officials confirmed Thursday, where commissioners will determine whether the educators should be barred from classrooms due to their involvement in a widespread cheating scandal.
Former Superintendent Hall, former Deputy Superintendent Kathy Augustine and former Area Superintendents Sharon Davis-Williams, Michael Pitts, Robin Hall and Tamara Cotman will face the scrutiny of the Professional Standards Commission, which polices Georgia educators.
As of Thursday, the commission has received complaints against all of the approximately 180 educators named in the state cheating investigation, and expects to start deciding cases next month, with the hopes of resolving all cases by January. The investigation uncovered test tampering at 44 schools.
Those found guilty could face sanctions ranging from a warning to loss of a teaching license. In Georgia, superintendents are required to have certification or permits, though the licensing requirements for top-ranking officials vary, said Kelly Henson, executive secretary for the commission. The commission has jurisdiction only over educators it certifies, but when an employee is sanctioned, the punishment is recorded into a database searchable by other states.
"If an educator has his or her certification sanctioned in any way, that information would be available to prospective employers," he said.
In addition, the educators also face possible criminal charges and termination from the school system. Hall has repeatedly denied any knowledge cheating occurred during her tenure. The five administrators also have denied any wrongdoing.
Earlier this week, the district released the names of two teachers who had been cleared from the investigation, while three other educators were implicated: Valerie Paul and Erica Turman, both teachers at D.H. Stanton Elementary, and Tiffonia Lamar-Sanders, a former media specialist at Cook Elementary. The district did not know what the teachers were specifically accused of.
Commissioners, relying extensively on evidence from the state investigation, will look into each case and decide in the next few months whether the educators named in the report are guilty of cheating or other ethical violations. The commission's decision can be appealed to an administrative law judge and then the Georgia Court of Appeals.
The Code of Ethics for Educators forbids "falsifying, misrepresenting or omitting or erroneously reporting information submitted in the course of an official inquiry/investigation; information submitted to federal, state, local school districts and other governmental agencies; and information regarding the evaluation of students ..." like those taking the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.
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