BILL HASLAM

STATE OF TENNESSEE

CANDICE MCQUEEN

GOVERNOR

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

COMMISSIONER

NINTH FLOOR, ANDREW JOHNSON
TOWER
710 JAMES ROBERTSON PARKWAY
NASHVILLE, TN 37243-0375

December 22, 2017
Via Electronic Mail and USPS
Dorsey E. Hopson, II, Director of Schools
Shelby County Schools
160 S. Hollywood Street
Memphis, TN 38112
Dear Superintendent Hopson:
Thank you for the conference call on December 20, 2017 where your team updated the
Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) on the status of Shelby County School’s (SCS)
investigative audit and actions to date in response to improper grade changing within SCS. The
TDOE greatly appreciates the actions SCS has taken thus far to ensure all instances of
inappropriate grade changing within SCS are exposed, appropriate steps are taken to safeguard
it from happening in the future, and students are impacted as little as possible.
As we discussed on the call, please submit the following to the TDOE to document the changes
SCS has made to immediately address this matter to ensure the integrity of student records is
maintained and employees are acting lawfully:
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All job classifications or positions within SCS containing job duties that include entering,
editing or having access to student grades and/or the electronic grading system;
All agendas from trainings that have been conducted on the practice of entering and
editing grades after the grade changing was uncovered, including a list of employee
classifications or positions that were required to attend; and
All written policies and procedures, including the effective dates, regarding who has
access to grades and/ or electronic grading systems, the protocol for entering grades,
and the protocol for editing grades. Please include what policies and procedures are
new and were adopted as a result of this issue.

I know that SCS leadership is still reviewing the investigative findings and has not yet finalized
all actions that will be taken to mitigate future risk in the area of grade reporting. I also know
you will be continuing to ask questions to inform your final plan to address this matter. There
are some important questions SCS should be asking to better understand what happened and
how it can be remedied. As you learn the answers, we would appreciate responses to the
following:
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Why does SCS leadership think the problem occurred?
Do employees understand their responsibilities regarding the duties of entering and

Tennessee Department of Education • Andrew Johnson Tower, 9th Floor • 710 James Robertson Parkway • Nashville,
TN 37243
Tel: (615) 741-5158

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editing grades but are failing to fulfill those responsibilities?
Are employees not aware of the proper procedures with regard to entering and editing
grades?
Has training around the policies and procedures of entering and editing grades been
clear and provided as often as necessary?
Does SCS leadership think policies and procedures need to be developed or revised to
address proper entering and editing of grades?
Was SCS leadership already aware of the problem and been working on it?
Does SCS’s electronic grading system maintain an audit log of changes, and if so, does
someone have the job of checking it regularly to minimize the risk of improper grade
changes?
What is SCS’s plan to review, on a case by case basis, the transcripts of students, still
enrolled in SCS, whose grades were improperly changed, to ensure students are
negatively impacted as little as possible by this issue?

We look forward to continuing to work with you and your staff to bring this matter to a successful
resolution. As noted in my earlier correspondence prior to this week’s conference call, we will
also continue to monitor the resolutions you are putting in place in regular state audits. Please
let me know if you have questions at any time.
Sincerely,

Dr. Candice McQueen
Commissioner