Teacher resigns after admitting to changing grades

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Fulton County teacher resigned after school officials found out she changed students grades.

In an email Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes obtained, the teacher told the principal at Feldwood that many students got Ds and Fs, and she didn't want to alarm parents.

One parent Fernandes spoke with on Wednesday was alarmed, and she's not happy with the way school officials gave her excuse after excuse before they finally admitted the teacher broke policy by changing grades.

“The investigation only began because I was persistent,” a parent said. %

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The woman's daughter is a fifth-grade honor roll student at Feldwood Elementary School in College Park.

When she brought home a C in social studies, her mother started asking questions.

“How did my daughter drop from a 95 to a 74 in a matter of weeks?” the parent said.

The teacher told her the C grade was based on a Fulton County assessment.

Not satisfied with that answer, the parent contacted principal Racquel Harris.

The principal sent home a letter to parents, saying the teacher made a mistake, and new report cards would be coming out.

On the new report cards, school officials told Fernandes every child in this teacher's class got an 80.

“Well. something was off. I probed a little further,” a parent said.

Channel 2 Action News obtained an email from the teacher to principal Harris.

In it, she admits to changing grades.

She said, "Many students would have received a grade of a D or an F. I did not want to alarm parents with such a poor grade on their first report card of the year.”

That teacher was removed from the classroom two days later and resigned after that.

School officials admit the teacher violated district policy by changing grades.

However, they refused to go on camera, so they sent Fernandes a statement.

It says, "It appears that the quality of daily instruction was not impacted, and that no other grades were changed or affected."

Cox Media Group