CLINTON, Tennessee — The Anderson County Board of Education voted to fire two teachers accused of fixing test scores at a board meeting on Monday night.
Anderson County's school board voted unanimously to fire Rachel Jones and Clay Turpin for unprofessional conduct, insubordination and neglect of duty. Clinton High School Principal Dan Jenkins resigned last month.
A "charges of dismissal" document attached to Monday night's board meeting agenda said investigators noticed irregularities with the credit recovery program. It said Jones, under Jenkins' direction, changed grades in the 2022-23 school year. Turpin was involved in 2023-24 after Jones said she was done with it.
"As the 2023-2024 school year progressed, however, it became more and more clear to me as the Director of Schools, and to other central office administrators, that something was amiss at CHS," Director of Schools Tim Parrott said.
Jones told investigators she believed Jenkins asked her to change grades for students to improve the graduation rate for Clinton High School. In the 2022-23 school year, the state of Tennessee recognized Clinton High School as a reward school for high levels of performance.
When the scheme began, Jenkins asked Jones to move a student to virtual programming and that student had "somehow" completed his 5 remaining courses in 8 days, the dismissal document said.
"Jenkins instructed her to bump the student's grade, skip questions, skip assignments, and do whatever she had to do to: 'get him out of there,'" the investigation report said.
When asked why several students were able to complete their courses so quickly, Turpin told administrators that students could rush through the virtual courses through a "test-only" mode. He said he suspected students were searching for answers to quizzes and tests online because they didn't receive any instruction. The admins questioned how one student was able to finish a course that should have taken an entire semester in mere hours.
"The relevant data showed this student somehow completed Geometry in: 1 hour 46 minutes and 40 seconds. Turpin claimed he did not 'touch anything' for the student to complete - from beginning to end - an entire course in less than two hours," the report read.
Anderson County Schools also found students who were enrolled in classes for credit recovery, but those students were not listed for the required end-of-course testing.
District leaders also said they found students who were supposedly on track to graduate, but didn't have the necessary coursework.
The charges of dismissal document continued and said Coach Darrell Keith told Jones he needed a student's grades replaced and Jenkins signed off on the change. Keith worked as the head coach of Clinton HS's football team.
"At the time, Jones said she could not help Keith. Yet, later, Keith returned with the same marked transcript, this time bearing · Jenkins' signature. Keith stated: 'Dan said put him in those classes.' Jones called Jenkins to confirm, and he said: "Yes, put him in the classes,'" the dismissal document said.
Keith remains the head football coach for Clinton High School.
That document said Jones and Turpin were forthcoming in the district's investigation. Jenkins wrote his resignation on a sheet of notebook paper.
The Personnel Files
WBIR 10News obtained Jenkins' personnel file from ACS in April when the allegations publically came to light. In it was his resignation letter, which appeared to have been handwritten on a page of loose-leaf paper with the words, "I resign my post effective 5/12/24," and his signature.
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Also included was a letter to Jenkins from ACS Director Tim Parrott, which notified Jenkins that he was suspended without pay pending the outcome of an investigation into "serious allegations of unprofessional conduct, insubordination, and neglect of duty."
Other than that, Jenkins had been reprimanded and suspended for two days in 2021 for allowing the Clinton High School girl's basketball team attend a middle school tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dec. 2020 while Governor Bill Lee's executive order restricting public school activities was still in effect, according to the file.
On April 12, ACS said Parrott named Amanda Powers, Clinton High School's assistant principal, to serve as the interim head principal.
"As an experienced educator and administrator, Director Parrott has full faith and confidence in Principal Powers as she leads Clinton High School through the remainder of this school year," ACS said.
Before he resigned, Jenkins was named the school's principal in May 2020. He had worked with the district for nearly 18 years starting in 2007, and previously taught social studies and coached soccer and swimming at CHS before taking on administrative roles. He then served as principal at Norwood Middle School, which was named a Reward School by the Tennessee Department of Education.
According to her personnel file, Rachel Jones taught math at Clinton High School and coached the school's bass fishing team -- leading students to compete in the Bassmaster High School National Championship in 2022 and 2023. Jones has taught at the school since 2011, and in 2019 was named Teacher of the Year. Her file contained one disciplinary note sent by Parrott in Dec. 2023 that said she was suspended without pay for two days for using profanity in front of students.
"After an investigation, it has been determined that you did use profanity while dealing with a student. It has also come to my attention that this is not the first time you have lost your temper and behaved in an unprofessional manner with staff and/or students," Parrott said in the letter.
Turpin's personnel file showed he was formally hired by the high school in 2022 as a science teacher and assistant baseball coach. His file did not contain any previous disciplinary actions. The last entry from his file was an email sent to Parrott on May 15 at 1:30 p.m. stating that he wished to resign from his position.