What is going on in the Baltimore school district? I’ll list our past stories at the end because this one is a biggy.
Fox Baltimore reported on ghost students and classes at Augusta Fells Savage about four months ago.
The same network interviewed former Baltimore City Schools principal Angel Lewis, who said it sounded like something at her school, Claremont Middle/High School.
Lewis alleges this happens at a lot of schools because the district wants to pass students so bad that officials have kept dead students on the roster and enrolled others in fake classes:
Angel Lewis tells Fox45 News she was recruited by Baltimore City Schools in 2016 and brought in to help a troubled school east Baltimore. She says North Avenue knew about ghost student and ghost classes, years ago, because she told them.Lewis has watched over the past few months as Project Baltimore exposed the massive scandal at Augusta Fells Savage in west Baltimore. For her, it seemed all too familiar.“I believe that it is happening at many schools,” Lewis told Project Baltimore.North Avenue, earlier this month, released the explosive findings of its internal investigation into Augusta Fells. Those findings confirmed six months of Project Baltimore’s reporting, finding grades were improperly changed while upwards of 100 students had questionable enrollment status. The report also found Augusta Fells students were enrolled in classes that did not exist, which Lewis says was happening at her school, Claremont Middle/High School in east Baltimore.“I had already reported this information. And so that’s why I can emphatically say City Schools was absolutely aware of it,” Lewis told Project Baltimore.
Lewis is suing the district for wrongful termination. She accused them of violating the state whistleblowing protection laws after she brought the wrongdoings to officials.
The complaint included graduating students who did not have the credentials and unqualified teachers.
But the ghost students. My goodness.
Lewis said staff members went through the rosters with her. They told her which students attended, did not attend, and dead. She had five dead students in her school when she took over from previous principal Kamala Carnes.
Yes, the school kept dead students on the rosters:
By keeping students enrolled, a school can increase the funding it receives from taxpayers. At Claremont, that included students who were dead.“One of the teachers even mentioned to me that she attended the funeral,” said Lewis.When Lewis took over, she says 130 students were enrolled at Claremont, but only about 30 were attending the school. Ghost students, as they’re called by educators, are only enrolled on paper.“What happened is what had been going on for years prior to my arrival, because I was the one who reported it and began to give attention to it, I then became the scapegoat. It’s better to blame the new person,” said Lewis.
The fake classes! Claremont’s schedule did not have math or science courses:
“These classes aren’t listed, how were students in English one if English two isn’t listed? Or how are they supposed to be in math and the math classes aren’t there? And how is this working for science, because there are no science courses for me to work with the registrar to select with the students,” said Lewis.
Baltimore schools are a mess.
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