Texas Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley may soon take full control of the Wilmer-Hutchins school board.
Leaders of the 2,900-student district just outside Dallas have until April 4 to respond to a state report that alleges dozens of teachers helped students cheat on state tests. The report, according to The Dallas Morning News, maintains that two-thirds of the educators responsible for testing in the district aided in the cheating.
District officials publicly denied any wrongdoing last week.
Texas officials would not discuss or release the report, which they consider confidential until it is final. The report could lead to the toughest sanction the state can impose on a district: dissolving the local school board, and appointing a board of managers and a superintendent.
The Wilmer-Hutchins district has been under close state scrutiny for several months. Suspended Superintendent Charles Matthews has been indicted on charges of financial mismanagement and falsifying school attendance records, a state official said. (“Superintendent of Troubled Texas District Indicted,” Nov. 10, 2004.)
