AZ Department of Education confirms academic fraud in local school
SAN LUIS, Ariz. ( KYMA, KECY) - After an in-depth investigation that took several months, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), found security violations at Rio Colorado Elementary School in San Luis, Arizona.
The allegations began last September when a teacher from the school self-reported the incident sparking concerns. This resulted in the Gadsden District firing five of its employees.
News 11 first interviewed the district's superintendent back in January. Dr. Raymond Aguilera initiually defended the scores.
“In the end, they let those schools off because what they were were really high kids scoring at the state level so when we told them the kid's background that explains why these kids were scoring so high," said Dr. Aguilera.
During our first interview with the superintendent, he said he did not ask the ADE to investigate all the schools. However, News 11 got a different story from the ADE in a phone interview.
“They conducted their own investigation and found there were security violations at that school, at that point they asked us to see if there were any other issues anywhere else," said Audra Ahumada with the ADE.
News 11 obtained the detailed investigation letter from the ADE. It stated over 20 students, all of them affected by the fraud, were required to retake the exams in December.
After reviewing the investigation letter, our news team found several inconsistencies with Dr. Aguilera's first interview. He then to sit down with us for another interview to help connect the dots and clear any confusion.
“It all started by rumors and we don’t operate on rumors, a teacher come and spoke to us that began the whole investigation," said Dr. Aguilera.
At this time it is still unclear if staff members who resigned will have their licenses revoked. However, it is clear that the students involved suffered the most impact.
According to the school district, the parents of those students were notified by mail in November. News 11 wants to add, witnesses and staff members who called our newsroom with their concerns didn't want to be interviewed on camera. They say they fear retaliation from the district and the community of San Luis.
Below, is the full letter provided to News 11 detailing the investigation process.
