New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is recommending school districts adopt new policies to outline procedures for making student grade changes. WBFO's Focus on Education Reporter Eileen Buckley says this follows an audit from the comptroller's office.
The auditfound students grades were changed from failing to passing in five school districts -- Arlington, Elmira, Fairport, Freeport and Saratoga Springs Districts. But auditors found there was no written explanation for the grade changes.
The Williamsville Central School District was included in the audited, but the report found Williamsville does not detail or track the history of grade changes.
Williamsville Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Martzloff declined an interview with WBFO and instead issued a written a statement. Martzloff said the district will be 'formalizing procedures' as recommended by the comptroller. But Martzloff also stated that an audit log to monitor grade changes was implemented prior to release of the audit.
In an email response from School Board President Ronald Shubert, he tells WBFO News the board has not had a chance to review the audit, but would be responding to the Comptroller.
"When proper controls are not in place, there is the possibility of student grades being inappropriately altered,” DiNapoli said. “When grades are changed, there needs to be a record justifying the changes. These lax policies could easily be manipulated and graduation rates, college placement and teacher performance could be compromised by these system weaknesses.”
The following is the full statement issued by the Williamsville School District:
Statement by Dr. Scott G. Martzloff, Superintendent of Schools
regarding the NYS Comptroller’s Audit of Student Grading Systems
September 21, 2015 - "The Comptroller’s report specific to Williamsville recognizes the District’s efforts to control and reduce the risk of unauthorized grade changes. The audit verified that the Williamsville Central School District has procedures in place for access by authorized users and states that the District requires appropriate documentation to support any grade changes made in the grading system. A sampling of grade changes indicated that proper documentation existed for legitimate grade changes (e.g., retaking of a Regents exam) in all cases as reflected on page 9 of the report.
District procedures will be formalized in a written document as per the Comptroller’s recommendation, and an audit log to monitor changes made in our grading system has been proactively implemented prior to the release of the audit report."