Judge allows testimony of alleged APS cover-up

Key dates in the Atlanta Public Schools test cheating case.

Early January: That's when Judge Baxter has told defendants they need to decide whether to enter into plea agreements.

April 21, 2014: The APS trial is scheduled to begin.

A Fulton County judge on Friday said he will allow testimony alleging that former Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall and one of her top lieutenants ordered the destruction of documents to cover up evidence of test cheating.

The ruling handed a victory to prosecutors who plan to use the hearsay testimony in their racketeering conspiracy trial scheduled for April 21. But Hall’s lawyers, who objected to any use of the testimony, said they believed it will not prove any sort of conspiracy to conceal information about test-cheating.

Prosecutors asked Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter to let them introduce the testimony through Colinda Howard, who once headed APS’s internal investigations office. Howard is expected to testify that former APS human resources director Millicent Few told her to shred drafts of an investigative report that found a substantial likelihood that test-cheating occurred in 2008 at a southwest Atlanta elementary school, Deerwood Academy.

Few also told Howard to also delete all electronic versions and make sure the final report did not include adverse findings, prosecutors said.

Howard previously told the governor’s special investigators that Few stood over her to make sure she shredded the initial drafts. Howard also told investigators that Few told her she had just left Hall’s office.

“It was an attempt to conceal and hide evidence,” Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker told Baxter at the pretrial hearing. ” … It indicates a directive from Dr. Hall to shred these documents.”

Rucker disclosed that parents and teachers are expected to testify at the upcoming trial that they met with Hall to voice their concerns. One parent, whom Rucker did not identify, told Hall that her child was found to be exceeding expectations on test scores in reading, even though the child couldn’t read.

Hall’s response was, “Don’t worry about it. Maybe she had a good day that day,” Rucker said.

Hall and other high-ranking APS officials concealed evidence of test cheating, ignored complaints about it and punished those who blew the whistle about it, Rucker alleged.

David Bailey, one of Hall’s attorneys, said Howard has an axe to grind against high-level APS officials. Howard was investigated for allegedly making inappropriate sexual comments and creating a hostile work environment, and she resigned before being terminated, Bailey said. It was also office policy to shred drafts of reports, he said.

Atlanta lawyer Penn Payne conducted the investigation into testing irregularities on Criterion-Competency Referenced Tests at Deerwood. But Payne told special investigators that “she strongly disagreed with the notion or assertion she had watered down her conclusions,” Bailey said. The drafts of Payne’s documents also will show what changes were or were not made, he said.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Quinn questioned whether that was possible. The initial drafts were either shredded or deleted from Howard’s computer, he said.

Baxter allowed hearsay testimony that will implicate former APS area superintendent Michael Pitts and former Parks Middle School Principal Christopher Waller. There are 33 remaining defendants in the sweeping racketeering case, and Baxter is allowing some of them, including Few, to challenge the testimony at another hearing in December.

Baxter did not rule out the possibility he could change his mind at this upcoming hearing.

“If I’m convinced the other way, I’ll let you know,” he told defense attorneys. “Right now, it doesn’t look likely.”