A grade-fixing scandal at Clinton High School may have spurred a bill to allow grades to be changed with penalty in the future. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
An academic scandal at an Anderson County high school could be the impetus for a Tennessee bill allowing grades to be changed if students improve on a second attempt.
The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis passed the Senate consent calendar, meaning the bill was non-controversial and faced no debate. The House version, sponsored by Republican Rep. Clay Doggett of Lewisburg, is to be considered Wednesday by the Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
Senate Bill 273 allows school employees to “alter, create or duplicate” a student’s grade if it is earned by retaking a failed course, exam or assignment to earn credit.
Taylor said recently he wasn’t familiar with a 2024 case at Clinton High School where the principal, football coach, two teachers and three counselors left amid grade-fixing allegations involving the school’s credit recovery program.
“But that case did highlight the need for this change in state law,” Taylor said.
Anderson County grade fixing scandal takes down principal, football coach
Taylor said he decided to sponsor the bill because he had to attend summer school during high school and explained that current state law doesn’t allow teachers to change student grades if they take remedial or summer school courses and show improvement.
The scandal at Clinton High, which led to the principal’s resignation and departure of the head football coach, two teachers and three counselors, focused on online programs used for students to retake coursework, stay in school and graduate on time. Experts say instructors can change grades on the program’s modules to manually override grades or put students in “test only” mode, which enables them to skip computer instruction and move straight to testing.
A Clinton High teacher who administered the credit recovery program and was fired last year, told school officials she was responsible for 485 score changes “many of which were skipped questions until a desired student grade was achieved,” according to a document obtained by the Tennessee Lookout. Another Clinton High teacher admitted to changing 1,009 grades over four months.
The fired teacher, who also said students cheated by looking up questions on cell phones, implicated the principal, football coach and school counselors, the document showed. The principal and coach denied any wrongdoing.
Local school board members refused to field questions about the matter last year when parents and community members showed up at a meeting to ask about the scandal.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.