Candidate waiting for action on allegation of for-sale exam

Terry Webster

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2000 | 10:24 a.m.

Clark County School Board candidate Beatrice Turner is not backing away from claims that a school district employee tried to sell her answers to the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam for $400.

Turner, a District C candidate challenging incumbent Shirley Barber, told Point of View Vegas television host Mark Shaffer that she plans to name the employee during a face to face meeting with school officials.

She said the district has not tried to contact her since she raised the allegation Monday.

"They know how to contact me," she said.

School officials declined invitations to appear on POV Vegas, which is the Las Vegas Sun's news discussion show, but the district issued a written statement noting that officials take seriously all allegations of test cheating and investigate complaints.

Former students from Rancho High School and Horizon North High School in a variety of public forums last week said teachers gave students answers during testing and that students had access to answer sheets.

Leonard Paul, assistant superintendent for secondary education, said he wants to set up a meeting with students making the allegations.

"If somebody gives me the names, I'll go to work right now," he said. "It's hard to conduct a thorough investigation without them."

School officials are admitting to knowing about some of the allegations, but they are still being tight-lipped about the details.

After hearing the Rancho allegations, Paul said the incident happened two years ago. But that conflicts with what former students have told the Sun. They are alleging that cheating took place in the spring of 1999 and 2000.

Former Lake Elementary School teacher Ramona Johnson also appeared on POV Vegas, giving an update of the investigation into allegations she made last June.

Johnson said teachers were given copies of the fourth grade TerraNova booklet to teach the test. She also said the district's internal curriculum test scores were inflated.

During the program, Johnson said her allegations have fallen "on deaf ears and blind eyes."