CRCT Investigation Report: Towns Elementary School | Schools

Towns Elementary School
760 Bolton Road
Principal: Carla Pettis
Testing Coordinator: Dr. Dorothy Keen
SRT-4 Executive Director: Tamara Cotman

ATLANTA -- The Governor's Special Investigators concluded that cheating took place on the 2009 CRCT at Towns Elementary School.

According to the report, paraprofessional Michelle Torrey said the tests were taking to a conference room at the end of the school day, where they often stayed until 5 p.m. or later. Torrey claimed to see people erasing things on the answer sheets, but assumed they were "correcting names and student identification numbers."

However, due to the conflicting testimony of Torrey, testing coordinator Dorothy Keen and principal Carla Pettis, evidence came back insufficient to conclude that Keen or Pettis cheated. Pettis refused to testify under oath, while Keen denied cheating altogether.

The Investigative Team concluded that “from the statistical data and the other evidence secured in this investigation . . . Principal Carla Pettis failed to properly monitor the 2009 CRCT, and adequately supervise the testing activities and test security.”

Pettis is still listed as Towns Elementary principal on the school's website.

Read the full investigation here
Atlanta Public Schools CRCT Investigation