Arnold never ‘attended or earned degree from Ohio University’

After police announced his arrest, WHYY News spoke with three close relatives who said Arnold never lived in Ohio or went to college there, either in person or virtually.

When WHYY News initially asked Lawson last week about Arnold’s possible falsification of his resume, she said the state — not the district — is responsible for verifying academic credentials that allow educators to get salary enhancements.

“The ultimate verifier of doctoral degrees, and master’s degrees … is the Delaware Department of Education,” Lawson said. “We have a letter on file from DDOE that verifies every employee’s graduate credential/licensure in order for that employee to be paid at the doctoral level.”

The state’s searchable public certification website, known as DEEDS (Delaware Educator Data System), shows that Arnold has a master’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Ohio University’s main campus in the town of Athens. No doctorate in philosophy is listed.

While waiting for an answer from Ohio University last week about whether Arnold graduated or attended the school, WHYY News asked the Department of Education how officials certified that he had the degrees he had claimed.

A reporter also informed the state that relatives said he never lived in Ohio and the school did not offer advanced psychology degrees online.

Education Secretary Mark Holodick, a former Brandywine superintendent, and other state education officials would not agree to be interviewed about Arnold and his credentials.

But spokesperson Alison May replied in writing that Arnold’s “applications for graduate salary increments were validated by DDOE. Ohio University did offer this doctorate at the time of his attendance.”

May’s email did not explain how the state verified the degrees.

Dan Pittman, Ohio University’s communications director, later confirmed, however, that Arnold never “attended, or earned a degree from, Ohio University at any time.”

WHYY News shared that disclosure by the university with May, who several hours later sent a written statement acknowledging that the salary boost based on Arnold having a doctorate “was approved in error.”

May added that the state was trying to determine how that occurred.

“The department will be investigating how this approval was made and how to improve practices and our systems checks to prevent this kind of error from happening again,” May wrote. “We are alerting law enforcement, who will manage any investigation into potential false documentation.”

May also shared the state’s regulation for approving advanced degrees, and offered a partial explanation of how Arnold was able to exploit the state’s certification system.

The rule specifies that transcripts can be submitted by the university directly to the district, but that the state “in its discretion may also accept verification of an official transcript by other means if the authenticity of the transcript can be made.”

In Arnold’s case, May wrote that he applied for the higher salary when he was hired in October 2021, and “the transcripts used for this graduate salary increment (GSI) approval were submitted by the applicant directly.”

The state issued the approval letter in July 2022, and made his salary boost retroactive to his hiring date nine months earlier.

“The Department of Education recognizes your education level as a Doctorate Degree,” said the approval letter to Arnold and shared with Brandywine. WHYY News obtained the letter under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Asked for further explanation of how the fake transcripts were approved, May wrote that the state “can answer questions related to its findings once complete.”

Montagne said that in the past, when similar issues arose with an educator’s credentials, there usually weren’t “any repercussions. People are shocked and then nothing happens.”

But in Arnold’s case, where someone who faked advanced degrees has been charged with repeatedly raping a child, those responsible for the “ludicrous” error need to be disciplined and possibly fired, she said.

“Delaware’s a small state, so this wasn’t lost in bureaucracy,” Montagne said. “This is probably one or two people that aren’t doing their job. I don’t understand the reluctance that we have to just move on from people that are incompetent.”

Lawon said the debacle with Arnold’s degrees makes it painfully obvious that it’s time for the state, as well as all 19 Delaware school districts and charter schools, to double down on verifying that job candidates aren’t faking their credentials.

“This circumstance causes us all to look at our processes and procedures,” Lawson said. “After seeing what Ohio University wrote, what can we all do to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?”