The coordinator of an honors program at Fairfield's Armijo High School has resigned after it was discovered he altered the grades of college-bound students in his program.
The resignation of Daniel Harrison, who had taught at Armijo since 1988, was announced at Thursday night's meeting of the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District governing board.
District superintendent Kris Corey called the incident "a significant learning experience" and revealed the transcript tampering involved not just current students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, but also a number of graduates.
Corey said the principal was calling a meeting of IB parents in the Armijo High School gym for Dec. 16, and that administrators were planning to meet individually with affected students and their parents before the end of the month.
The superintendent told News10 that seven seniors were impacted along with up to ten sophomores and juniors and a "handful" of graduates.
Corey assured the board the IB program was not in jeopardy and said colleges and universities the district had contacted to explain the corrected transcripts did not blame the students.
Although Corey did not explain how Harrison was able to change the grades, she said the district's high schools would be conducting annual internal audits to prevent future tampering.
Corey read the following statement to the board on Harrison's behalf:
In my passion to advance the goals of the students, I have made serious errors in judgment in my capacity as the IB coordinator. The students and their parents had nothing to do with these errors. I apologize to the students and the parents who have been affected by my decision and my actions. I also apologize to the teachers and the Armijo High School community and the district for any adverse effects related to my actions.
The superintendent said Harrison would remain on administrative leave until his resignation becomes effective at the end of the school year.
