More than 100 Texas educators being investigated in certification cheating scheme

Texas - The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released a list of more than 100 teachers under investigation and suspected of fraudulent teacher certification practices. This action follows a recent scandal involving a large-scale cheating scheme in Harris County.

Back in October, it was announced by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg that five people would face felony charges after being accused of orchestrating an illegal cheating scheme that granted unearned certifications to hundreds of Texas teachers. All five of those defendants face two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.

ORIGINAL STORY: Harris County crime: Felony charges filed in massive teacher certification cheating scheme

Among the local districts under scrutiny are 16 Houston ISD teachers, three Cypress-Fairbanks ISD teachers, four Fort Bend ISD teachers, two Katy ISD teachers, and one Pearland ISD teacher. There are also teachers from Alvin ISD, Conroe, Galena Park, and the Harris County Department of Education named on the TEA list.

Three educators on the list are included in the five people announced to have already been charged in the scheme back in October. They are Vincent Grayson, Nicholas Newston, and LaShonda Roberts.

RELATED: Texas teacher certification cheating scheme: Bond set for 4 Houston ISD employees

Gray, the alleged mastermind, and the head boys basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School, is charged with organized criminal activity. He’s alleged to have made $1,090,000 off of the scheme.

List of educators under investigation

The full list of educators is below, organized by district. It should be noted, this does not mean the educator is currently employed at that specific district. The TEA specified the information is based off the latest information about their employment at the end of the 22-23 or 23-24 school year.

Allen ISD

• Williams, Jeremiah

Alvin ISD

• Collins, Jefferson
• Edwards, Nehandra
• Garrett, Michael
• Manning, Brandon
• White, Daphney

Arlington ISD

• Bragg, Shayla
• Martin, Money
• Versey, Jordan

Beaumont ISD

• Nolan, Tristan
• Wright, Tanisha

Cedar Hill ISD

• Spivey, Terrion

Chapel Hill ISD

• Raymond, Roald

Conroe ISD

• Selvage, Perry

Crowley ISD

• Green, Dnarius
• Haliburton, Janesha

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD

• Green, Arthur
• Hampton, Rodney
• Valenzuela, Yamille
• Whiting, Cathy

Dallas ISD

• Din, Jeremiah
• Goss, Jason
• Heath, Janea
• Mauldin, Antonio
• Primas, Nyzhe
• Rogers, Jordan
• Spillman, Tahj
• Thornton, Cairo
• Washington, Thomas

DeSoto ISD

• Malone, Germia

Duncanville ISD

• Hill, Charles Preston
• Jones, Taneadra
• Key, Simone
• Luster, Jeffrey
• Mayes, Keisha
• Moore, LaToya
• Samuels, Gabriel
• Tribble Jr, Alford (This person is also being investigated for an inappropriate student-teacher relationship.)

Eagle Mt-Saginaw ISD

• Mallet, Dayon

Everman ISD

• Hendrix, Caleb

Fort Bend ISD

• Brown, April
• Cook, Vivian
• Durley, Aaron
• Thomas, Tavares

Fort Worth ISD

• Bowman-Smith, Destiny
• Hogan, Hanna
• Reagor, Dominique
• Regan-Waterford, Sheba
• Vaughn, Reuben

Galena Park ISD

• Mack, Johnnie

Garland ISD

• Kelly, Antorio

Hardin-Jefferson ISD

• Sneed, Omar

Harris Dept of Education

• Gray, Xavier

Houston ISD

• Galloway, Fred
• Grant, Ernest
• Grayson, Vincent
• Harris, Alexcia
• Henderson, Gerrod
• Hill, Jerome
• Johnson, Tiffany
• Kendricks, Danyelle
• Lockett, Arthur
• Newton, Nicholas
• Peterson, Charles
• Politte, Mark
• Roberts, LaShonda
• Session, Latisha
• Westbrooks, Earl

International Leadership

• Williams, Kawonda

Irving ISD

• Cooks, Markel
• Ford, Karrington

Katy ISD

• Agyei, Kwabena
• McAfee, Calandra

Lancaster ISD

• Douglas, Corey
• Spears, Darrea

Linden-Kildare CISD

• Clark, Randel

Madisonville ISD

• Robinson, Nikia

Mansfield ISD

• Adams, Xavier
• Osborne, Shameika

Mesquite ISD

• Baxter, Marion
• Virgil, Chason

Mineral Wells ISD

• Luster, Taylor

New Boston ISD

• Brewer, Billy

Palestine ISD

• Hargers, Brandon

Pearland ISD

• Oglesby, Toye

Port Arthur ISD

• Callihan, Armani
• Decuir, Tieranny
• Green-Allison, Charlotte
• Johnson, Quintin
• Nelson, Edwin

Princeton ISD

• Dillard, Jakari
• Santos, Isaiah

Red Oak ISD

• White, JaQuan

Richardson ISD

• Crawford, Dwain
• Hollins, Devan

Spring Branch ISD

• Glass-Hammond, Autumn

Spring ISD

• Allah, Mecca
• Dawson, Allison
• Finney, Sterling

Temple ISD

• Ortiz, Jazzmen

Waxahachie ISD

• Beal, Jermaine
• Swift, Marcus

HISD released this statement to FOX 26 on Wednesday:

HISD has a rigorous approach to recruiting, hiring, training, and supporting educators so that all our students get the education they deserve. It is a shame that a small handful of individuals, out of HISD's more than ten thousand dedicated teachers, allegedly tried to cheat the system and Houston’s students. All of the individuals have been relieved of their duties and reassigned pending the outcome of the state’s investigation.

Who are the five Houston ISD educators already facing charges?

• Vincent Grayson, 57: Head boys basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD. Grayson is charged as the organizer of the cheating operation. He’s alleged to have made $1,090,000 off of the scheme.
• Tywana Gilford Mason, 51: Former director and VA certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center. Mason allegedly used her position as a test proctor to keep the proxy scheme hidden. She’s alleged to have made $125,000 off the scheme. Records indicate Gilford Mason was prosecuted for Bribery in the early 2000’s.
• Nicholas Newton, 35: Assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School. Newton is accused of participating in the scheme by acting as a proxy test-taker. He’s alleged to have made $188,000 off the scheme by taking 430 tests.
• Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22: A proctor at TACTIX who allegedly accepted bribes to enable Newton's actions as a testing proxy. It’s alleged he accepted $250 each time he allowed the testing to take place under his watch.
• LaShonda Roberts, 39: Assistant principal at Yates High School. Roberts is accused of recruiting nearly 100 teachers to take part in the cheating scheme. She’s alleged to have charged each teacher she recruited, some cases ‘in excess of $1,000’.