Students enrolled last year in Reading 1B are eligible for the program

To ensure content mastery, additional assignments will be offered to Westbury High School students who were enrolled last year in a reading course that was the subject of grade integrity concerns.

The option for additional coursework was recommended by the Houston Independent School District’s Federal and State Compliance department as a way to ensure all students have the opportunity to prove content mastery and raise their grade.

The recommendation follows a report released earlier this year by the HISD Office of Internal Audit, which conducted an investigation into allegations of the improper assignment of course grades to a classroom of students at Westbury. The investigation determined that the then-Westbury principal directed staff to enter a final grade of “80” for 26 students who had previously been given failing grades by a substitute/associate teacher.

Though the audit reviewed just one class, HISD is offering the grade improvement program to all students who were enrolled in the Reading 1B course last year. About 100 students are eligible to participate.

Students who choose to participate must complete specific reading assignments selected by the school’s English and Language Arts Department Chair. All work must be completed by Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. The department chair will then review all assignments and issue a new grade for the fourth and fifth six weeks.