Teacher at Chapel Hill ISD under investigation by TEA for ‘pay-to-pass’ certification scheme

Published 1:11 pm Monday, December 9, 2024

Chapel Hill ISD is one of four school districts in East Texas currently under investigation by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) due to allegations related to a statewide teacher certification cheating scandal.

The TEA recently released a list indicating that over 100 teachers are being investigated this week for their involvement in cheating on certification exams within their respective districts. According to that list, Chapel Hill ISD has one teacher under investigation.

In a statement to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Chapel Hill ISD said it is “not at liberty to discuss the details of the situation” due to personnel privacy rules.

If found guilty of misconduct, teachers face permanent license revocation and placement on TEA’s “do not hire” registry, barring them from employment in any public school in the state.

Also located in East Texas, Palestine ISD, New Boston ISD, and Linden-Kildare ISD are among the school districts included in the investigation.

The TEA began investigating allegations of certification exam fraud in mid-2023 after noticing irregularities at Houston’s Training and Education Center (HTEC). Reportedly, candidates who had repeatedly failed certification exams were suddenly passing after long distances to Houston to retake them.

The scheme was brought to light when a former participant came forward and led investigators to evidence of alleged bribed proctors, proxy test-takers, and payments funneled through virtual payment methods like Zelle and CashApp.

The alleged organizer, Vincent Grayson, 57, the head boys basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD, reportedly made over $1 million from the scheme, which involved 430 fraudulent tests. HTEC was shut down in mid-2023 but the scheme continued at another location called TACTIX.

Other key players in the scandal include:

Tywana Gilford Mason, 51, the former director/VA certifying official at HTEC, was a test proctor, which officials said allowed her to keep the proxy scheme undetected.

Nicholas Newton, 35, an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, allegedly participated in the scheme as the proxy test-taker.

Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22, a proctor at TACTIX, is accused of taking bribes to allow Newton to act as a testing proxy. She is accused of accepting cash bribes of $250 for every candidate that signed in and left, letting someone else take their place.

LaShonda Roberts, 39, an assistant principal at Yates High School in HISD, is accused of recruiting nearly 100 teachers to participate in the cheating scheme.

The scandal, which reportedly dates back to March 2020, has resulted in more than 200 unqualified teachers being placed in classrooms throughout the state. The investigation is ongoing.