Crisis Response Report Scott Holland, Karen Schaeffer, Kathleen Souder, Jimmy Whited, Kate Wolfe, and Barbara Wood
Jan 20, 2016
Crisis Response ReportScott Holland, Karen Schaeffer, Kathleen Souder, Jimmy
Whited, Kate Wolfe, and Barbara Wood
Details of the Incidento When: May 16, 2003o Where: Waller Mill
Elementary (Fine Arts Magnet)
o Who: Fran Spady, Principal
o What: Breach of testing security (followed by a resignation of the principal)
Timeline of the Incident
May 16, 2003 May 19, 2003 May 21, 2003
Superintendent discoveredguidelines violated &reported to VDOEPossible violation
reported;Investigation began
Principalconducted small group SOL test
Superintendent informed VDOE
official what actions would
be takenby school
system
Timeline of the Incident (con’t)
Between May 16 and May 20
May 22, 2003During week ofMay 26, 2003
Fran Spadyresigned as
WME principal
Interim principaltook over
Dr. Staples:*called parents of 3students involved
*sent a letter hometo all WME parents
School retested3 studentsinvolved
The Virginia Gazetteo Reported no reason for the
principal’s departureo Quoted Dr. Staples,
Superintendent:o three students would have to
retake the testo security measures not
properly followed
The Virginia Gazetteo Quoted Betsy Overkamp-
Smith, Community Spokesman, “Guidelines have been violated.”
o Described the positive side…o Dr. Staples: Waller Mill has
been fully accredited for three years
The Daily Presso Reported on May 24, 2003o Testing guidelines violated
3 times; principal resigns—doesn’t report a connection however
o Dr. Staples: what is a breach?o Doesn’t necessarily mean the
answers were given
The Daily Presso Many other violations
in the area:o Gloucester: 80 students
had to retakeo Culpepper: 67 studentso 17 local violations from
1999 to 2003
The Daily PressoDiscussed Dr. Staples apology
oDiscussed school’s response briefly
oNamed interim principal
The School’s Responseo According to Betsy
Overkamp-Smith:o Level of trust exists between
York County Schools, community, and the media
o Tried to keep it quiet as much as possible
o Once the story broke, gave immediate response to media
Stages of Crisis Control
Prevention
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Prevention
oStaff received training
oSigned security agreement regarding testing procedures
PreparednessoHad a process of reporting testing irregularities
oHad plans for communicating with media
oEstablished trust between York County and the community
Responseo Called parents of
involved students to inform of situation
o Gave notice to all parentso Described incidento Apologized to parentso Explained that affected
students would be retested
Recoveryo Announced principal
resignationo Appointed interim principalo Initiated new principal
searcho Sealed investigated records
Effectiveness of the PR response
o Managed to diffuse the situationo Focused on previous
accreditationo Assured the community that
this was not a principal who was worried about scores
o Kept much of the information out of the media
Effectiveness of PRo The Director of Testing
administered retests the next week
o Diffused the Rumor Millo If you don’t hear from us, your
student wasn’t involvedo Got information out quickly
to parentsoAnnounced tentative principal
quicklyoSchool officials already in process
of appointing new principal
Effectiveness of PRo Gave possible explanation:
Educators spend the entire year giving information to help students succeed; for the SOLs, we can’t tell them anythingo Human erroro Not an overt attempt at
cheatingo Gave rationale while still
admitting that it was wrong
Reasons for Effectivenesso Many other similar stories
going around at this timeo News not as interesting
when it’s not newo The Tap-Dancing
Superintendent
Suggestions for Improvement
o Overall, successful PR responseo Swift actiono Severe consequenceso Quick communication
o Conducted an informal investigation afterwardso Would a formal investigation
have been better?o More training for staff to
prevent future problems?