ORLANDO, Fla. – A former principal of Jones High School in Orlando, who resigned from his position in May after the district began "looking into some questionable student record issues at the school," acknowledged changing grades for 15 students, a report released Tuesday shows.
An investigation summary states Roderick Waldon admitted he made the changes on his own accord and that several of the changes were made to improve the students' eligibility for the athletic scholarships through the NCAA Clearinghouse. For others, the changes were made to reportedly "improve the course grade following successful completion of the end-of-course examination."
Waldon said no one asked him to change any grades, but indicated that some were also made because he determined after going through the classroom that the instruction was poor.
Officials said district officials met with the impacted students after their grades were corrected to reflect what they were prior to Waldon's changes. One track athlete was removed from competition due to ineligibility.
No other details were released.