The Bummers just never learn...

Hoover counselors sent UA changed transcript for player
Former principal says grade change a mistake

Wednesday, August 22, 2007
JON SOLOMON AND ERIN STOCKNews staff writers

Counselors at Hoover High School this spring sent a second, different transcript for a football player to the University of Alabama after the university called to say the player was unexpectedly ineligible, according to the high school's former principal.

The second transcript contained a grade change that was "an honest mistake" and that made the player eligible, said Richard Bishop, who has sued the school system over his dismissal as principal.

The player is Josh Chapman, a highly recruited freshman defensive tackle at Alabama, The Birmingham News has learned.

The grade change is one of several allegations involving academics at Hoover High that are being investigated by retired federal judge Sam Pointer Jr. on behalf of the school system.

Some other allegations involve whether a teacher was pressured to give a certain grade to a football player. The News has learned that player is Kerry Murphy, a highly rated Alabama signee who failed to qualify academically this year and is attending prep school.

The University of Alabama declined to comment about Chapman's case. Messages left with Chapman were not returned, and Alabama denied an interview request to speak with him.

"Whenever we receive information questioning any student-athlete's eligibility, we evaluate that information and take appropriate action according to the circumstances," Alabama spokesman Doug Walker said.

No formal correction:

Bishop said he and Hoover Superintendent Andy Craig agreed not to formally correct the second transcript, which was sent to the NCAA Clearinghouse for review of eligibility, because the grade-change error was strictly Hoover's.

Craig said he didn't want to discuss an individual case, but "if an error was made on a grade/transcript in favor of the student, as a general rule, I don't think we would punish the student for a mistake that we made."

Hoover counselors sent UA changed transcript for player

Hoover High math teacher Forrest Quattlebaum said in June that a final grade for a senior football player in his class was changed from a B to an A without his consent.

According to Bishop, Alabama's compliance office informed Hoover's guidance department of a concern regarding a player's first transcript shortly after Memorial Day. Bishop said Alabama told the guidance department that the player was "so many hundredths of a point" shy of being eligible and that there had to be a problem, because Alabama had thought the student's eligibility wasn't an issue.

Bishop said Hoover counselors Cindy Bond and Marley Stephens assumed there had been a mistake due to a rounding error with the computer system. Bond and Stephens had been checking grades that were not correctly rounded up and reported 36 such problems, Bishop said.

Bond and Stephens recalculated and mistakenly averaged the player's final math grade of an 89, which is a B, with his first-semester grade of a 90 and came up with a final grade of 89.5, according to Bishop. A grade of 89.5 can be rounded up to 90, which is an A.

Bond, a college and career specialist, and Stephens declined to comment, saying they have been honest with school officials and Pointer in recounting what happened.

Quattlebaum said he was not notified of the grade change until June 12 - 13 days after the change was made. Assistant Principal Carol Martin and Peer Helping Coordinator Terri Borie informed Quattlebaum of the change in a casual conversation outside of school, he said.

Bishop said the counselors, Bond and Stephens, had been calling other teachers while verifying grades, but he was uncertain why they didn't notify Quattlebaum. "I would say just an oversight," Bishop said.

Teacher felt pressure:

Pointer's probe also includes complaints of a teacher feeling pressure from Borie and Martin over another senior football player's grades. The News has learned the student was Murphy.

Bishop said teacher Nikki Townsend reported to him in February that she felt pressured by Borie and Martin, who was the ninth-grade assistant principal at the time.

The contract for Townsend, who was Murphy's English teacher last year, was not renewed at Hoover and she now teaches at Vestavia Hills High School. She declined to comment.

In a Feb. 9 e-mail - one of a series of e-mails obtained through an open-records request by The News - Borie assured Bishop she was not pressuring Townsend. She simply was inquiring about the student's progress because he was in her academic support class, Borie wrote. Bishop said he told Borie: "I want you to understand her perception is she's being pressured. And I do not want her to feel pressured."

Bishop said a string of e-mails between Borie and Townsend demonstrates there was no pressure from Borie. "This teacher is doing her job, and her job is to provide academic support for a student who struggles in school," he said.

Bishop said he cautioned Martin as well, in November, about the perception of pressure from her toward Townsend. "We talked, and I reminded her that, `Perception is in the eye of the beholder and your responsibility is to remove all doubt,' and evidently there was still doubt," Bishop said.

Martin had taken a special interest in the student when he was a freshman and followed him throughout his career, Bishop said. She has been an advocate for students with special needs, he said.

Asked not to speak:

Martin and Borie in separate interviews declined to discuss details, saying they met with Pointer and were asked not to speak about the investigation.

Martin, who is the 11th-grade assistant principal this year, said she looks forward to the investigation being completed and felt positive about her discussions with Pointer.

Borie said, "I think this investigation will show I haven't done anything - anything - wrong."

In late February, Townsend met with then-Assistant Superintendent Jan Dennis and said she felt pressure and feared losing her job, Dennis said. Townsend had talked with Bishop earlier that month about feeling pressured, he said. Afterward, he wrote to her on Feb. 13 that "I want you to continue to encourage (name redacted) and make sure his IEP is followed ... no more is expected."

Murphy said he has an IEP, or Individualized Education Program, for sleep apnea, which he was diagnosed with two or two-and-a-half years ago. He said he was unaware that one of his teachers reported feeling pressure to give him a certain grade. "If all this was going on, the teacher should have come to me and let me know," he said.

Murphy said he believes he has earned all his grades. "I really haven't seen my grades being given to me," said Murphy, who added he wouldn't have been in summer school this year if that were the case.

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

I'm shocked.