HISD teacher scandal results in five arrests, including basketball coach

Five people who work or used to work for the Houston Independent School District have been charged with organizing a $1 million teacher certification program.

Five people who work or were employed by a Houston school district have been arrested for allegedly orchestrating a $1 million teacher certification program, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced.

At a press conference Tuesday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said five people have been charged with two counts each of engaging in organized criminal activity, and first- and third-degree felonies that carry sentences ranging from two years to life imprisonment.

According to Ogg, the plan involved a teacher impersonator taking the exam in front of a corrupt test proctor. Once the exam was completed, the proctor allowed the impersonator to turn in the exam with the name of the actual applicant, she said.

More than 200 unqualified teachers have been certified through this program, and all have practiced or are practicing in Texas public schools, Ogg said.

All five individuals charged are or were employees of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), including Vincent Grayson, 57; Tywana Gilford Mason, 51; Nicholas Newton, 35; LaShonda Roberts, 39; and Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22, according to the district attorney’s office.

Grayson, the head boys basketball coach at HISD’s Booker T. Washington High School, was identified as the “lead player” and is estimated to have made more than $1 million from the scheme, Mike Levine, a crime chief with the DA Office’s Public Corruption Division, said during the press conference.

He worked at the high school for almost 20 years, Ogg said.

‘A complete betrayal of public trust’

“HISD was notified of the investigation into an alleged deception conspiracy shortly before the arrests occurred. Any educator who engages in this type of behavior is an abdication of responsibility to our students and staff and represents a complete betrayal of the public trust,” the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for HISD said in a statement to USA TODAY.

“HISD will cooperate fully with the Texas Education Agency and state and local law enforcement as the investigation progresses,” the statement continued. “All three of these employees have been arrested and will receive notices of removal from their duties effective immediately.”

The school district, that serves more than 189,000 studentsalso wrote in the statement that if it is determined that teachers currently employed by HISD have participated in this program or fraudulently passed their certification exams, we will take swift action to terminate their employment with the district.

Ogg said the plan goes back as far as her office can handle, which is around May 2020, but that the “extent of the plan will never be fully known.”

Other HISD employees involved in $1 million scheme

The roles of the other HISD employees involved in the scheme were identified by the District Attorney’s Office:

Tywana Gilford Mason, the former director/VA certification officer of the Houston Training and Education Center, was reportedly the test proctor who kept the scheme undetected.
Nicholas Newton, an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, is said to have participated in the program as a proxy test taker.
Darian Nikole Wilhite, a proctor at TACTIX, allegedly took bribes to allow Newton to act as a test proxy.
LaShonda Roberts, assistant principal at Yates High School in HISD, is accused of recruiting nearly 100 teachers to participate in the fraud scheme.

Of the teachers who were improperly certified, at least two were “sexual predators” who gained access to minors on and off campus through their work within the school system, Ogg said. One of the teachers has been charged with indecency with a child, while the other has been charged with online solicitation, the prosecutor said.

Former coach was whistleblower for settlement

A former coach who applied to become a police officer in another part of Texas had an attack of conscience and reported the scheme to authorities, according to Ogg.

“For me, the most interesting irony in this cycle of greed is that even though the perpetrators are the kind of people we entrust our children to, it was actually a Good Samaritan with a conscience who exposed this scheme,” he said. public prosecutor. said.

Ogg also said the program was “well known among teachers seeking certification.” Scores of teacher certification candidates would drive from “far-flung cities” from Houston, including Dallas-Fort Worth or beyond, to participate in the program, Levine said.

“Often these people had previously failed one or more attempts at the certification exam,” Levine said. “They then drove sometimes four hours or more to the Houston area, and suddenly they passed the test with flying colors.”

After Ogg’s office received the coach’s tip, they learned about an email address, a phone number, a Cash App and ultimately the identity of the defendants, Levine said. Investigators interviewed dozens of teachers, and about 20 of them cooperated, all telling very similar versions of events, he added.

How did the scheme work?

The scheme worked because candidates paid Grayson about $2,500, and he in turn would forward about 20% of the money to Mason so she would be willing to allow the deception to take place, Levine said. The candidate would then be told where and when the test would be, he said.

The candidate would come to the designated area, sign in and leave a few minutes later, Levine said. Upon leaving, Newton would come in and take the test and pass, he said. From May 2020 through February 2024, Ogg’s office estimates Newton administered 430 certification tests, fraudulently posing as teaching candidates.

In total, Grayson made $1.09 million from the scheme, Mason received at least $125,000 and Newton received more than $188,000, according to Levine. Wilhite received $250 each time she allowed a candidate in and out, he added.

“Teachers and coaches who help influence children’s behavior, we look to them for their moral compass,” Levine said. “It’s disturbing to think that so many people, without what I would consider a good moral compass, are trying to educate and influence children across the state.”