HUDSON, FL -- Three Pasco County high school teachers are out of the classroom after being charged in a testing scam.
The tests were for agriculture certifications issued through a testing organization that is part of the Florida Farm Bureau. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Hudson High teachers Harold (Jim) Martin, Robert Herrington and Kathleen Troutman gave out copies of exams as "study guides", and sometimes took tests themselves, in order to earn bonuses. The bonuses were $25 or $50 per passing exam. FDLE says the teachers raked in $36,000 on their share of passing grades.
Hudson High had the highest passing numbers in the state until an audit revealed irregularities and law enforcement stepped in.
FDLE Special Agent Mark Brutnell says special education students who didn't even know they were taking the test, passed it.
More than a thousand students will have to retake their agricultural exams after the testing organization revoked their certificates. Brutnell says those students are the victims, as well as taxpayers.
The Pasco School District may have to pay back more than a half million dollars in bonuses to the state and the testing company.
One teacher resigned, another moved to Arkansas, and a third is on unpaid leave. They each face one count of organized scheme to defraud.
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