Tennessee

‘Potential breach of security,’ during TCAP testing led to Tennessee principal’s suspension, resignation

Published

2 years ago

June 6, 2024

‘Potential breach of security,’ during TCAP testing led to Tennessee principal’s suspension, resignation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – “I screwed up,” that is what former Randolph Howell Elementary STEM School principal Dr. Michael Ford allegedly said when school district officials started looking into TCAP “testing irregularity” at the Maury County school back in April.

Ford was indefinitely suspended on April 23, 2024, and then resigned two days later, as the district investigated his conduct with a group of students during the statewide test.

Previous Coverage: Midstate elementary school principal resigns amid questions over TCAP test integrity

According to the district’s investigative report, Ford pulled 35 fourth-grade students with “the highest rate of discipline concerns” from their normal classrooms and administered the TCAP test to those students himself. The report claims Ford then transcribed those students’ test answers, possibly violating testing rules.

The revelations come as part of MCPS’s 119-page investigation titled “POTENTIAL BREACH OF SECURITY REPORT” which was sent to the Tennessee Department of Education on April 26, 2024, and obtained by WSMV4 Investigates through a public records request.

According to the investigative report, Ford was questioned by Keith Stacey, the school district’s test coordinator, and admitted to administering the test to a “behavior group” of 35 kids and instructing them to circle their answers in testing booklets, instead of using test answer documents. Ford then allegedly told Stacey that he later transcribed what students indicated their answers to be by bubbling in their answer documents.

The report states that Ford asked at one point “Is that now what we are supposed to do?’ But when Stacy explained to him that transcription is only allowed for students with a documented accommodation or if there is a specific situation requiring transcription, Ford allegedly replied “I screwed up, I screwed up.”

Ford’s conduct with the 35 students first came into question a week after TCAP testing began, when a fourth-grade teacher came forward with concerns that testing was not being conducted as “she thought it should be.”

That teacher explained that some students had been pulled from their regular class to test with the school principal, and “several students” had not “bubbled in their answers.”

During the district’s investigation, one teacher questioned stated in an email that a student claimed she had not completed the ELA portion of the test, but when she saw her answer document the next day, all the bubbles were filled in.

In another email included in the report, a second teacher wrote that a couple of students said that some of their answers on the MATH portion of the test were filled in differently than how they answered in their booklets.

There was also a claim by one of those teachers that the windows on the doors of the room where Ford was testing students were covered with paper.

As part of the investigation, former Assistant Vice Principal Beth Hamilton was also questioned. She served as the building test coordinator at Howell Elementary and retired the day after Ford resigned.

The investigation says Hamilton confirmed that 35 students had been pulled on Ford’s suggestion that the group be created based on their behavior and due to fourth grade losing a teacher.

Hamilton said the behavioral group was not on the school’s original testing schedule and that she “forgot to submit the change” according to the report.

Ford allegedly told Stacey that “[w]e looked at discipline tracker and we sorted students into similar groups based on performance, to ensure students had the best testing environment possible.”

Ford went on according to the investigative report to say that “we took our top kids with the best shot and placed them in the same testing environment’ and “I took the behavior group to help out…and allow for all kids to test in the best environment for them.”

The report says Hamilton told district investigators that “she did not know of Dr. Ford transcribing student answers from the test booklets to the answer documents.”

WSMV4 Investigates reached out to Maury County School, the Department of Education and Ford for an interview to discuss the investigation and the claims made by teachers and students at Howell Elementary.

MCPS denied our request saying in an email “Superintendent Ventura does not discuss current or former employee personnel issues externally and respectfully declines your request for an interview. We believe the issue has been thoroughly investigated and resolved.”

The DOE said by email “[t]he department does not comment on potential or ongoing investigations.” The DOE also said in an earlier email that “staff traveled to the district and oversaw the production of replacement answer documents to ensure students were not negatively impacted.”

And while Ford said in a text message that he could not speak on camera until the matter was fully resolved, he did write that [g]roups were formed to ensure students had the best testing environment possible for success, and district leadership was informed of these groupings and their rationale in advance.”

WSMV4 Investigates has also filed a public records request with the DOE, to obtain any investigation or reports that it produces, and we are still waiting for the production of those materials.

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Tennessee

Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

Published

7 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Press Room

Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WSMV) – Three Memphis voters, through the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee leaders, claiming the state’s new congressional maps are discriminating against Black voters.

The ACLU announced the lawsuit on Monday, saying that three organizations — the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis, the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Equity Alliance, are also part of the lawsuit that was filed against Sec. of State Tre Hargett, Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins and several others.

“In May 2026, over the course of mere days, a White-dominated supermajority of the Tennessee General Assembly redrew Tennessee’s congressional map to crack the predominantly Black city of Memphis into three pieces and destroy the only district in which Black voters are able to elect representatives of their choice, shutting Black voters completely out of power in federal elections in Tennessee,” the filing states.

The ACLU and the other plaintiffs echo arguments made by Democrats while the maps were being debated during last week’s special session: “The cracking of Memphis unlawfully targeted Black voters.”

“The new plan carves through the center of Tennessee’s second largest city, dividing neighborhoods that have voted together for decades, splitting numerous counties and precincts, and cutting the Black population into thirds with suspect precision,” the lawsuit says. “The districts then run hundreds of miles east towards the Nashville suburbs, snaking through predominantly White and rural counties to dilute the voting power of now-divided Black Memphians.”

Gov. Bill Lee signed the new congressional map into law last week. The new map splits Shelby County, home of Memphis, into three districts.

Republicans have said the map modernizes the districting process and removes “racial data from the mapmaking process entirely.” Democrats, on the other hand, say that the move is meant to dismantle the Black-majority district.

Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R) told WSMV that Republicans “have been very clear” on their intention to secure a ninth Republican seat in the state. He has said the map would help “ensure the state’s representation in Washington reflects its conservative values.”

The lawsuit draws significant attention to the racial makeup of Tennessee lawmakers, describing, “White control over Tennessee politics.” Plaintiffs allege that a white majority “faction” of state leaders “gave bizarre, robotic answers to the most basic questions about the map they were sponsoring.”

“None of the sponsors of the plan would admit who actually drew it, and the lead Senate sponsor—a White legislator with over a decade of service in the Tennessee General Assembly who had attended law school in Memphis — would not say whether Memphis was predominantly Black and claimed not to know that Congressional District 9 was a majority- Black district,” the filing says.

They seem to be referencing Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon), who was asked during the special session if he was aware that the majority of the residents in the ninth district are Black.

“I’m not aware,” he responded. “I know how the map is divided, but I don’t know the racial makeup of the map.”

Stevens got his juris doctorate from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

The three Memphis residents who took part in the lawsuit are Amber Sherman, a lifelong resident of Memphis and the lead Tennessee regional organizer for Black Voters Matter Fund, Rachael Spriggs, a Memphis resident for more than 20 years who is the director of Power Building for the Equity Alliance, and Kermit Moore, a nearly lifelong resident of Memphis who is the president of the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute.

The lawsuit claims intentional discrimination in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments, as well as retaliation for protected expression and association in violation of the First Amendment.

Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that the newly drawn map is unconstitutional and restore district lines before primary elections proceed.

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Tennessee

New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Published

19 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Tennessee State Senators Michele Reneau of Signal Mountain and Bo Watson of Hixson spoke today about the new law supporting police K-9’s.

The act allows injured dogs to get stabilization services on-site and then be transported via ambulance or helicopter to a vet hospital.

“In the past, officers were basically putting the k9 in their car and transporting them in their in their own vehicle, they didn’t have an ambulance or an air ambulance,” said Senator Watson. “This allows for an air ambulance. It also allows for a educational program for those in EMS, who will be taught how to manage canines emergency medical condition, which is different than a human’s.”

In April, Erlanger flew a K9 officer from Clay County, to North Carolina.

It was the first time the program was used for a live transport after several training runs.

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Tennessee

What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Published

1 day ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee softball’s path back to the Women’s College World Series is set. On Sunday night, the Lady Vols were named the No. 7 overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and will host the regional stage in Knoxville as it looks to return to the WCWS in back-to-back seasons.

The Lady Vols are matched up with Virginia, Indiana and Northern Kentucky in the regionals. It would play Georgia, Clemson, UNC Greensboro or Charleston in the super regionals.

Ahead of the tournament, here’s a look at each team in the Knoxville Regional and potential matchups for the ensuing best-of-three super regional if Tennessee advances.