State education officials are seeking to revoke the teaching license of a second Clarksdale educator accused of cheating on statewide tests.
The Mississippi Department of Education announced yesterday that has issued an administrative complaint against Tetra Winters, a teacher at Heidelberg Elementary School in the Clarksdale, for knowingly and willfully cheating on state assessments.
Pete Smith is with the state Department of Education.
"She was accused of two counts," says Smith. "One was she was altering or interfering with the examinee's responses during the administration, and the second count was she participated in, directed or aided students and assisted them during the test. "
Winters is the second teacher from Clarksdale Schools to be accused of cheating. Earlier this year, another Clarksdale teacher admitted to interfering with student answers on assessments in 2013.
MDE officials began looking into cheating in the Clarksdale School District last year, when students who scored well on assessments, showed up to school the following year not nearly as academically prepared.
Attempts to contact officials with the Clarksdale Municipal School District went unanswered, but in a previous conversation Superintendent Dennis Dupree told MPB News that the entire situation is unfortunate.
"We don't tolerate cheating in our district, and we never will," Dupree says. "It's unfortunate that it happened, but we will keep educating students the way that we should. The right way."
A hearing will be conducted later this month to determine the status of Tetra Winter's teaching license.
