PRINCETON: State looks at PHS attendance records

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   The state Department of Education said it is investigating an allegation that “false” attendance records were filed for an undisclosed number of Princeton High School students in order for them to graduate.
   Barbara Morgan, a department spokeswoman, would not comment Friday on what triggered the investigation or how far back the state is looking. But a statement, posted on the school district’s website by Superintendent of Schools Judith A. Wilson, said the state had requested records for the classes of 2009 to 2012.
   In an email Monday, she said the Oct.16 request was only for “attendance records and credits earned records for recent graduates in the last four graduating classes who had more than 18 absences in their senior years.”
   School board president Timothy Quinn said in a phone interview Friday that the request did not indicate there was an investigation going on.
   ”There were no specific findings or allegations in this,” he said.
   He added the school board has no plans “at this time” to conduct its investigation into the matter.
   No high school employees or any other district staff have been suspended or reassigned pending the outcome of the state’s probe.
   ”There is no basis for that action. We were requested to supply records, and we have,” Ms. Wilson said.
   Ms. Morgan said that once the “ongoing” investigation concludes, the state would issue a public report. The probe is being handled by the department’s office of fiscal accountability and compliance.
   She would not elaborate on potential penalties if the allegations prove true or what the consequences would be for the students who graduated. In June, around 350 seniors graduated from the high school, which also accepts students from Cranbury through a send-receive relationship between the two districts.
   ”Every student who receives a diploma from the district does so by fully meeting the graduation credit requirements of the state and the district,” according to Ms. Wilson’s statement on the district website.
   To graduate, the district says that among other things, students have to earn 120 credits.
   ”Our graduates have more than the state’s required number of credits. All students graduated, and many are already close to finishing college,” Ms. Wilson said in her email. “If the Department of Education has recommendations or requirements for how we review absences, we will certainly respond accordingly.”