The process of changing Woodrow Wilson Senior High’s student information system and the structure of the school’s guidance counseling contributed to discrepancies that allowed 17 ineligible seniors to graduate last year, Principal Stephen Tarason said.
But a teacher at the school who told D.C. investigators about the problem questioned whether those changes, when completed, will be enough.
Erich Martel, a social studies teacher, has estimated that as many as 203 students out of the school’s 420 seniors last year were ineligible to graduate. Of those 203 students, he said, 91 appeared on the school’s graduation list, which included a total of 311 students. Martel submitted his findings to Superintendent Clifford Janey’s office, which requested an audit by the Office of the Inspector General.
An April 5 inspector general’s report on the issue outlines Martel’s complaints and faults District of Columbia Public Schools for having vague graduation requirements as well as the school for having a certification process that may have allowed ineligible students to slip through the cracks because of insufficient and confusing record-keeping.
Janey’s office has said it is investigating.
“There were mistakes, but they’re mistakes that should have been caught,” said Tarason, who has served as principal since 1999.
Tarason said that last year Wilson was in the midst of transferring from the computerized Campus America student information system to a new program called D.C. Stars. Campus America lacked standardization across DCPS, leaving administrators to interpret course work for students entering Wilson from other schools or other jurisdictions. It often crashed, losing important information, he said.
“In the past, the transcripts were not accurate,” Tarason said.
A task force composed of Wilson officials and parents also is expected to recommend the redeployment of the six guidance counselors — who oversee more than 1,400 student records — so each counselor tracks students throughout their high school careers.
Counselors are currently assigned to work at different grade levels and often do not know if a student misses or fails a course required to graduate, Tarason said. Martel is not on the task force.
“You have a lot of hands in the guidance process, so we’re going to make sure they’re coordinated,” Tarason said. “I am going to be the administrator in charge of guidance.”
Martel first alleged problems with Wilson’s graduation certification in 2002, when DCPS officials and an accounting firm said Wilson improperly allowed 15 ineligible seniors to graduate.
cmabeus@dcexaminer.com
