The state department of education this afternoon released an internal audit investigating the hiring last year of an uncertified teacher’s assistant to teach math classes at Signal Mountain Middle-High School.
The report concludes, as Hamilton County did, that former Signal Mountain principal Eddie Gravitte should be held mostly responsible. Mr. Gravitte was removed from his position at Signal Mountain and demoted to an assistant principal position at East Hamilton School shortly after the beginning of this school year.
But the state’s audit also says that former area superintendent, Don Beard — Mr. Gravitte’s boss — also knew that Jonathan Greene was teaching math classes at Signal Mountain without proper certification.
Mr. Beard retired from Hamilton County Schools at the end of last year.
The report recommends that Hamilton County offer training to its administrators on statutes and standards related to teacher licensure and employment standards.
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
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