LIVINGSTON, Texas — A Livingston ISD school has been rocked by a cheating scandal.
Livingston High School Academy, formerly known as Challenger Academy, is under fire after an internal investigation revealed cheating and fraud within the campus. LHS Academy is an alternative education program serving as a dropout recovery - dropout prevention program designed to respond to the individual needs of students.
It’s the talk of the town. It has resulted in jobs being lost. Students' school credits are now being questioned.
The principal of the academy has resigned after being presented with the findings of the internal audit which revealed students who did not meet the criteria to get into the school were fraudulently admitted.
A teacher was fired after the audit also revealed they were giving students answers to tests which would help them accelerate through classes required for graduation.
Parents weren't happy to hear what was going on at the school.
"I think they ought to do more investigating and they deserved to be fired for this,” parent Deborah Layman said.
The program creates an alternative route to graduation for students who have not been successful in the traditional school setting or who have extenuating circumstances that require an alternative program.
Livingston ISD issued a statement saying that certain students were fraudulently admitted into the school that didn't meet the at-risk requirements or didn’t live in Livingston.
According to the statement, binders were prepared by the teacher and given to the students. The binders contained test questions and answers to use when the students completed their exams.
"This resulted in students accelerating through classes required for graduation at astronomical speed, some completing entire semester courses in mere minutes and an entire high school curriculum in weeks," the statement read.
The district said students will have to show they can actually master their subjects to regain the credits from last fall.
Letters were sent to parents of students impacted.
The district said it’s working quickly and in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency.
Here is the full statement from the Livingston Independent School District:
"A recent audit conducted at the direction of the Superintendent of Schools revealed substantial admission and academic policy violations at the Livingston High School Academy. The campus principal resigned when presented with the investigative findings, which revealed that students were fraudulently admitted into the Academy that did not meet at-risk criteria and/or were not Livingston residents. The audit also revealed gross negligence in his oversight of the classroom and conduct of its lead teacher, who was terminated by the Board at the special called meeting held on February 3rd, for cultivating academic dishonesty in her classroom. Binders were prepared by the teacher containing test questions and answers for students to use when completing course work and examinations. This resulted in students accelerating through classes required for graduation at astronomical speed, some completing entire semester courses in mere minutes and an entire high school curriculum in weeks.
"The District is acting swiftly and in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency to remediate the violations. This will require all Academy students illustrate mastery to regain credit awarded in all core courses during the fall 2019 semester. Letters were sent to parents of students impacted.
"The Livingston ISD school board believes in the value of alternative education for students at-risk and supports the Superintendent's efforts to regain the integrity of the Academy program."
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